Lulu the Tool (1971)

A conscientious factory worker gets his finger cut off by a machine. Although the physical handicap is not serious, the accident causes him to become more involved in political and revolutionary groups.

Director:

Elio Petri

Writers:

Elio Petri (story & screenplay), Ugo Pirro (story & screenplay)

Stars:

Gian Maria Volontè, Mariangela Melato, Gino Pernice

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Gian Maria Volontè	...	Ludovico 'Lulù' Massa
Mariangela Melato	...	Lidia
Gino Pernice	...	Sindacalista
Luigi Diberti	...	Bassi
Donato Castellaneta	...	Marx
Giuseppe Fortis	...	Valli
Corrado Solari	...	Tarcisio Mena
Flavio Bucci	...	Operaio
Luigi Uzzo	...	Operaio
Nino Bignamini	...	Salvatore Quaranta (as Giovanni Bignamini)
Ezio Marano	...	Capo Operai
Adriano Amidei Migliano	...	Tecnico
Antonio Mangano
Lorenzo Magnolia	...	Magnolia
Federico Scrobogna	...	Arturo

Storyline

Lulù is a real hard worker. For this reason he is loved by the masters and hated by his own colleagues. The unions decide agitations against the masters. Lulù doesn't agree till he cuts, by accident, one of his own fingers. Now, after he understood the worker's conditions, he agrees the unions and participates to the strike. He immediately is fired and, not only is abandoned by his lover, but also by the other workers. But the fights of the unions allow him under a new legislation to be hired again. At this point his mind starts giving collapse signs...

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Plot Keywords:

years of lead | factory | student | revolutionary | factory worker | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Second part of the "Trilogy of Neurosis" also including Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970) and Property Is No Longer a Theft (1973).

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Quotes

Lulù Massa: I supported the task-work. Followed the politics of the union. I worked for productivity and I was working, and keeping with the production. And now I transformed myself into a beast, a beast, a real beast! And the students say we are like machines... they say that I'm a machine, a pulley, a screw, a piston rod, a transmission belt, they say that I'm a pump, a broken pump and there's no way to repair that pump. I suggest to stop working right now. All. And who does not stop to work right now is...

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Connections

Referenced in The Mother and the Whore (1973)

User Reviews

This prizewinning movie should be reissued. Contains lessons for today's organizers that should be heeded.

Young radicals come in to organize a factory, which the company resists. The company stooge, Lulu is an older, super-competent machinist, the person whose production sets the company's impossible standard for the rest of the workers. He gets so upset and distracted as a result of the alienation of his peers, he cuts a finger off. The company abandons him as he recuperates, and he joins the struggle of the workers and the radicals who've come to organize them. The student and radical activists eventually get distracted by a new campaign, abandoning the workers in the battle they helped organize. It should be shown to all community organizers to help create respect for those on whom they depend for support of progressive initiatives.

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

31 May 1972 (France)

Also Known As:

Lulu the Tool

Filming Locations:

Novara, Piedmont, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1