In the Name of the Father (1971)

In 1958 Angelo, a rich and spoiled boy, enters a religious school, where students are tired of its vice-rector, and the strict rules and old-fashioned teaching methods of priests. Soon ... See full summary »

Director:

Marco Bellocchio

Writer:

Marco Bellocchio

Stars:

Yves Beneyton, Renato Scarpa, Piero Vida

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Yves Beneyton	...	Angelo Transeunti
Renato Scarpa	...	Father Corazza
Piero Vida	...	Bestia
Aldo Sassi	...	Franco
Laura Betti	...	Franco's Mother
Marco Romizi	...	Camma
Amerigo Alberani	...	Prefect Diotaiuti (as Ghigo Alberani)
Gérard Boucaron	...	Bocciofili
Edoardo Torricella	...	Father Matematicus
Tino Maestroni	...	Tino
Gisella Burinato	...	Lisetta
Luisa Di Gaetano	...	Virgin of Our Relief
Claudio Besestri	...	Muscolo
Livio Galassi	...	Marsilio
Orazio Stracuzzi	...	Remondini

Storyline

In 1958 Angelo, a rich and spoiled boy, enters a religious school, where students are tired of its vice-rector, and the strict rules and old-fashioned teaching methods of priests. Soon Angelo exerts strong leadership among his peers and incites turmoil among them, helped by intellectual Franco and shy Camma. They expel the prefect from the school, organize a Grand Guignol show, and disappear the corpse of an old professor. Encouraged by Angelo, the school servants also rebel to get better working conditions, but the strike fails when one of them commits suicide. But it will not take long before Angelo learns that the rebellion is useless.

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Plot Keywords:

priest | boy | grotesque | repression | rebellion | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

8 November 1973 (Denmark)

Also Known As:

Au nom du père

Filming Locations:

Bobbio, Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Vides Cinematografica

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min (cut) 105 min (cut) 90 min (2011) (recut)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

Italian censorship visa # 59909 delivered on 9-3-1972.

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Connections

Referenced in Tenebrae: Interview with Dario Argento and Daria Nicolodi (1982)

User Reviews

Not my favorite of Bellocchio's work, but well worth seeing if you like him

Bellocchio's variation on "If…", is even more surreal and bleak than Lindsay Anderson's vision of a boy's school as a metaphor for larger society. Here it's a school of spoiled rich out of control kids stashed away by their families (fathers mostly) in a school run by dark hearted priests. It's hard to tell which group is worse, as both tussle for control of the school and each other.

Beautifully shot (as are all Bellocchio's films). The film has the Church clearly starting to lose it's corrupted influence, but it's not like we have much to be cheery about in the thought of these rich young thugs running the world either.

The surprising thing is how much of this is quite funny. The themes may be depressing, but the individual characters and their actions are often darkly comic (sometimes too much for me, one boy's voice has been dubbed with something that sounds like Mel Blanc created it for a cartoon. Amusing at first, then grating).

Some will hate this – it is repetitive and grim and adolescent. But then, the young Bellocchio might argue, so is the world and those who run it.