Rome, Italy. After committing a heinous crime, a senior police officer exposes evidence incriminating him because his moral commitment prevents him from circumventing the law and the social order it protects.
Its portrait of a loner and his lusts comes up frighteningly fresh, and the whole conceit would collapse without the muscular, rousing presence of Gian Maria Volonte in the central role.
– Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
1 Oct 2012
fresh:
A paranoid police procedural, a perverse parable about the corrupting elements of power, and a candidate for the greatest predated Patriot Act movie ever ...
– David Fear,
Time Out New York,
25 Sep 2012
fresh:
A provocative political thriller that is as troubling today as when it came out in 1970. Maybe more so.
– Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Sep 2003
fresh:
The movie survives beautifully both as an elegant thriller and as a study of the twisted infantilism that shapes the fanatic heart.