Fists in the Pocket (1965)
"I pugni in tasca" (original title)

Ale, a deeply disturbed young man subject to seizures benignly decides to murder members of his dysfunctional family for altruistic reasons.

Director:

Marco Bellocchio

Writer:

Marco Bellocchio

Stars:

Lou Castel, Paola Pitagora, Marino Masé

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview:
Lou Castel	...	Alessandro
Paola Pitagora	...	Giulia
Marino Masé	...	Augusto
Liliana Gerace	...	Mother
Stefania Troglio	...	Chambermaid
Jeannie McNeil	...	Lucia
Mauro Martini	...	The boy
Gianni Schicchi	...	Tonino
Alfredo Filippazzi	...	Doctor
Gianfranco Cella	...	Young man at the party
Celestina Bellocchio	...	Young Woman at Party
Pier Luigi Troglio	...	Leone
Irene Agnelli	...	Bruna
Sandra Bergamini
Lella Bertante

Storyline

Alessandro, a young epileptic with paranoid inclinations, decides to relieve Augusto, the only sound brother, from the burden of a numerous family plagued with hereditary diseases. After a first aborted attempt, the dreadful series of accidents/murders is started by pushing the blind mother into a ravine. Then comes the turn of Leone, the idiotic brother. Will Alessandro be able to bring to completion his obsessive project ?

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Plot Keywords:

epileptic | dysfunctional family | epilepsy | murder | blind mother | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

27 May 1968 (USA)

Also Known As:

Fist in His Pocket

Company Credits

Production Co:

Doria

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film premiered at the Locarno International Film Festival. It was loved by young critics, loathed with equal passion by the Catholic establishment and earned huffy put-downs from Luis Buñuel and Michelangelo Antonioni, two heroes of director Marco Bellocchio.

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Goofs

When the whole family is having dinner, Augusto is seated at one corner of the table and the mother is sitting on a side at the other corner. The cat is shown to be eating meat off the mother's plate in one scene, but in the next scene Augusto is shown picking up the cat as if was right next to him on the table. Once he removes the cat, the next camera angle again shows Augusto and the mother at opposite ends.

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Quotes

Alessandro: I'm a volcano of ideas.

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Connections

Edited into Sorelle (2006)

User Reviews

One of the best Italian movies ever!

Marco Bellocchio directs his first full-length film, and it's already a masterpiece, a milestone in the history of Italian cinema.This movie is all about contemporary uneasiness and family crisis in today's society (only, some two decades in advance). Every time I hear of family massacres on the news, I've got to think about problematic, disturbed Lou Castel deciding to get rid of his mother and younger brother for the benefit of the eldest, embodying not only a stage of criminality, but above all a wrong philosophy, a twisted point of view about life, a failed maturity. Ennio Morricone' score is just perfect, fully successful in his aim to highlight the dramatic potential of the story. Lou Castel has never acted like this, his grimacing and his usage of the dead moments are unforgettable. The frames of the mother's death are like an howl, they "send shivers down your spine". A must-see.