Based on the novel of the same name by Leonardo Sciascia is this film of reflection on the Sicilian condition and on the protagonist’s inability to penetrate a castle of rules and conventions already built.
During a hunting trip, at the gates of the Sicilian city of Cefalù, the pharmacist Manno (Luigi Pistilli) and doctor Roscio (Franco Tranchina) are killed by unknown hands. Since the former had received a series of anonymous letters by virtue of alleged extramarital affairs, the investigation takes the path of honour killing while Dr. Roscio is supposed to have been killed, being a witness. But the high school professor Paolo Laurana (Gian Maria Volonté), introverted and politically ambiguous, begins to harbour various suspicions regarding the motive for the murders and the real purpose of the murderer. Confiding in Di Roscio’s widow Luisa (Irene Papas), who is also lawyer Rosello’s cousin, the investigations, conducted between Cefalù and Palermo, will reveal a mafia-style system much more complex than the simple Laurana could ever envisage.
Genre: crime
Cast
Gian Maria Volonté: Paolo Laurana
Irene Papas: Luisa Roscio
Gabriele Ferzetti: lawyer Rosello
Salvo Randone: professor Roscio
Luigi Pistilli: Arturo Manno, the pharmacist
Luis Bacalov soundtrack
A ciascuno il suo