The Case is Closed, Forget It aka L´istruttoria e chiusa: dimentichi (1971), Dir. Damiano Damiani, 106 mins, Blu-Ray
Right, back to that (pause for breath) Cosa Nostra: Franco Nero in Three Mafia Tales By Damiano Damiani boxset from Radiance, and its second film, the 1971 prison drama The Case is Closed, Forget It. Having now watched this and The Day of the Owl a few nights ago, its already now clear what kind of film-maker Damiani was- a very accomplished director with a very Western leaning in his approach, with an intense social conscience and interest in the Everyman. Someone quite willing to end his films with a cautionary, even defeatist approach- as I noted before, sometimes the bad guys win.
Franco Nero stars as Vanzi , a wealthy architect who is thrown in jail for a misdemeanour traffic violation to which he protests his innocence, while awaiting his case to be seen by a judge. His social standing and life of privilege is stripped away as he faces the grim reality of life behind bars. In many ways there is little unusual about the film, we see the usual prison drama tropes – incarceration in solitary, prison riot breaking out – with the plight of the inmates, disenfranchised, some mentally challenged, but here the mafia openly controls corrupt prison officials. Again, there’s that theme of corrupt authority seen in The Day of the Owl. Realising how things ‘work’ in prison, Vanzi learns how he can use some of his money from ‘outside’ to ease his life while behind bars, such as the corrupt doctor who provides a hooker from the adjacent women’s wing to entertain Vanzi, and access to better food, but Vanzi soon runs foul of the wrong people who really run the prison and such privilege’s are stripped away, his life as a prisoner taking a distinct turn for the worse.
What pushes this film to a higher level is the climax- there is a moment of violence, a murder that has been built up to, that is truly horrifying, a slow-motion murder that feels like a gut-punch. Its a really gruesome event that is very powerful. Even on top of that, and perhaps even more troubling, is the following coda in which Vanzi ‘sells out’, becomes a part of the injustice and corruption. As Franco Nero points out in an on-disc interview, Vanzi is a coward. He takes the easy way out, that costs him nothing (apart from maybe his soul). Yes, its another Damiani downer. At least in The Day of The Owl, our handsome hero had a moral backbone and stood up for what he believed in. One wonders if Vanzi really believes in anything, other than his life of luxury outside. Perhaps Damiani is voicing some opinion of the upper-class elite- its noticeable that Vanzi’s wife is quite fine with the revelation that he slept with a prostitute, actually opining that perhaps she should thank her.
This Radiance boxset is turning out to be a very strong one- it just goes to show that a set of films one has never heard of, by a director unknown, can be very worthwhile. Maybe not essential, but it’s clear that there are some excellent films out there that we should have better access to or knowledge of and I count these among them. I watched the film in its original Italian, but there is an English option which I may try next time around. There is another frank (sic) and open interview with Nero, this time focusing on this film, alongside an archival documentary featurette about the making of the film, and a visual essay on the career of Damiani Damiani by critic Rachael Nisbet. Picture quality for the film itself is excellent and the subtitles very clear- another solid release by Radiance that serves this film very well. As usual I haven’t dug into the book yet as I tend to wait until I’ve seen all the films in order to avoid spoilers.
I just fear that I need cheering up a little with something a little rosier and lightweight before tackling the last film in this boxset…
the ghost of 82 