Fists in the Pocket (I pugni in tasca)
Directed by Marco Bellaccio
Written by Marco Bellaccio
1965/Italy
Doria
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] Alessandro: I’m a volcano of ideas.[/box]
Unpleasant movie about unpleasant people. Or is it a horror film?
A seemingly in-bred family lives a dysfunctional existence in the Italian countryside. Mom is blind, Allessandro has epilepsy (and we will soon learn psychopathy and a yen for his sister), Leone is both mentally retarded and epileptic, and Julia has an unhealthy obsession with brother Augusto, the only normal sibling. Augusto wants to get married and move to the city. However, the financial burden of caring for all these disabled relatives makes that seem like an impossible dream. Alessandro has the more improbable dream of raising chinchillas.
Alessandro sees a solution to all their problems. He backs out on a plan to kill the entire family in a car “accident” but later screws up his courage to murder them one by one.
I didn’t know what to expect and perhaps wasn’t ready for a film filled with such despicable people. Later I read that this was intended to be a horror film. Maybe, but it is lacking the suspense to make it shocking. Not a winner with me.
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