AshUnow
This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.
Jugu Abraham
The best work of Francesco Rosi. One of the most thought provoking political thrillers that is even better than Costa-Gavras' "Z." There is a killing sequence (of the von Sydow character) where Rosi has evidently been influenced by Visconti's "Conversation piece" (74) opening credit sequence (death of the Lancaster character).
FilmCriticLalitRao
"Cadaveri Eccelenti" is an intelligent thriller which incites viewers to find out the truth about the motives behind some senseless killings.It does not give easy clues to viewers to ascertain the identity of the killer.This is why viewers are somewhat forced to guess till the very end about the real identity of the killer.Francesco Rosi has shot "Cadaveri Eccelenti" in a very formal manner in which it is hard to tell whether some influential people are behind the political killings or are they the brainchild of a lunatic who is determined to take revenge on judges who punished him for no fault ? The political milieu depicted in the film appears to be true as well as close to reality as one watches with interest how phones are tapped,conversations of key persons recorded and influential politicians rub shoulders with their business associates.The saddest thing about the film is its depiction of how an honest police man is defeated.It forms an integral part of a surprising end which might be a little disappointing for some. However,it can be accepted solely for being highly unpredictable.
gridoon2018
There is no doubt that "Illustrious Corpses" is the work of a cinematic master. There are some scenes that can shock you or leave you absolutely breathless. And Pasqualino De Santis' cinematography is stunning. But the film is also snail-like in its pacing (when a character is walking up or down some stairs, the camera will stay on him every step of the way), a little too vague in the "hows and whys" of its conspiracy plot, and it also has an air of self-importance about it, as if it is the first movie to tell us that the System is powerful and corrupt from top to bottom. It is (the System), but the film is not (the first one to tell us that). If technique alone was enough, "Illustrious Corpses" would be a great movie. Now it's just an interesting one. **1/2 out of 4.
Eumenides_0
Francesco Rosi's Cadaveri Eccellenti is a noble addition to the body of superlative thrillers that the 1970s produced. Based on a novel by Leonardo Sciascia, it is, however, a bit unusual. Closer to the paranoid thriller The Parallax View than exposés like All The President's Men and The Three Days of the Condor, it's more of a meditation on power and the lies governments create to maintain their power. A district attorney is murdered, followed by several judges. Inspector Rogas (Lino Ventura) is assigned to helm the investigation because he's the best man in the force. But the political contours of the murders test his freedom to investigate. His meticulous method clashes with his superiors' wishes for a swift solution when he starts investigating the private lives of the dead men, throwing doubts at their much-touted incorruptibility. His own convictions become a liability when he's forced to work with the political police, on the assumption that revolutionary groups are behind the murders. Slowly Rogas uncovers what he thinks is a conspiracy, but benefiting who is another matter.The movie, entertaining as it is, deviates in critical aspects from the superior novel. Important scenes are shortened or omitted, and new ones are added for no good reason. Rosi's communism also shines through the movie. Although Sciascia had left-wing sympathies, he was wise enough to recognize that when it comes to craving power, there's no difference between left and right. For that reason his novel was very critical of everyone. Rosi portrays the communists in a more positive, turning the writer and journalist Causan (Luigi Pistilli) into a heroic, truth-seeking man, when in the novel he was a coward terrified of being involved by Rogas in his dangerous conspiracy. The movie also makes the connection between the killer of judges and the government almost undeniable, whereas the novel never made it clear.Lino Ventura is nearly perfect in the movie: he plays the introspective Rogas almost as I imagined him: calm, reserved, compassionate, and with a fragile side; the mere act of putting on glasses to read something says so much about his character. He reminds me of Morgan Freeman in Seven.Other characters walk through the movie doing a good job: Pistilli doesn't play the Cusan I expected, but he always adds color to any scene. Renato Salvatori and Fernando del Rey play small roles too. Max Von Sydow was miscast, in my opinion, as the president of the Supreme Court: he looked too young for such a responsible position, and sadly his dialog with Rogas, so powerful in the novel, was greatly truncated, minus my favorite line, "judicial errors do not exist," when Rogas exposes the theory that a wrongly accused man is killing judges.Cadaveri Eccellenti is a fine movie, much more interesting and suspenseful than I remember when I watched it back in 2005. Its combination of talents shouldn't leave any film lover unmoved: the legendary Tonino Guerra on the script and Pasqualino De Santis (Death in Venice, The Damned, A Special Day) in charge of the cinematography alone guarantee that this movie is worth watching. When you add the imagination of Leonardo Sciascia and a strong performance by Lino Ventura, playing his way through beautiful Italian landscapes, you have a winner.
