THE LADYKILLER OF ROME Released within months of Fellini's La Dolce
Vita and Antonioni's La Notte, Elio Petri's dazzling first feature The
Assassin (L'Assassino) also stars Marcello Mastroianni, this time as
dandyish thirtysomething antiques dealer Alfredo Martelli, arrested on
suspicion of murdering his older, far wealthier lover Adalgisa
(Micheline Presle). But as the increasingly Kafkaesque police
investigation proceeds, it becomes less and less important whether
Martelli actually committed the crime as his entire lifestyle is
effectively put on trial. Best known for Investigation of a Citizen
Above Suspicion and The Tenth Victim, Petri was one of the finest and
yet most underrated Italian directors of the 1960s and 70s. Highly
acclaimed on its original release but unjustly neglected since, The
Assassin is a remarkably assured debut from one of the cinema's sharpest
chroniclers of Italian social and political realities. Petri said that
he wanted to reflect the changes wrought by the early sixties, and to
examine "a new generation of upstarts who lacked any kind of moral
scruple". Arrow Academy is proud to present The Assassin in a gorgeous
high-definition restoration created by the Cineteca di Bologna.
Bonus Materials:
-2K digital restoration from the Cineteca di Bologna
-Uncompressed Mono 2.0 PCM Audio
-Elio Petri and L’Assassino, an introduction by Italian cinema expert Pasquale Iannone
-Tonino Guerra: A Poet in the Movies: Nicola Tranquillino’s documentary about the great Italian screenwriter
-Theatrical Trailer
-Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Jay Shaw
-FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Booklet featuring writing on the film by Petri expert Camilla Zamboni, Petri’s own critical analysis of 1950s Italian cinema, plus a selection of contemporary reviews
Jeremy [Six Strings]
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