''The Assassin'' ( it, L'assassino) is a 1961 Italian

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

Elio Petri Eraclio Petri (29 January 1929 – 10 November 1982), commonly known as Elio Petri, was an Italian film director, screenwriter, theatre director, and critic associated with the political cinema in the 1960s and '70s. His film ''Investigation ...

. It is the feature film debut of Petri. It was entered into the

11th Berlin International Film Festival The 11th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 23 June to 4 July 1961. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Italian film ''La notte'' directed by Michelangelo Antonioni. Jury The following people were announced as being on the ...

Plot

Early one morning at an expensive apartment in Rome, the police arrest Alfredo, a good-looking bachelor who runs an upmarket antique business selling fakes. The charge is murder: Adalgisa, his wealthy former mistress, has been found dead in a seaside hotel. Alfredo is dumbfounded, since he had visited her that night to ask for more time to repay a loan and they had made love, but he would never have dreamed of killing her. His life becomes a nightmare as the police stick regardless to their theory, interrogating him endlessly and probing into his past life. He comes to see that the existence he had never examined before was founded on egoism and lies. His relationships with his widowed mother, with his innocent fiancée, with the customers he cheated, and with the dead Adalgisa were all hollowed out by his superficiality and selfishness. Next morning the police release him into the street, realising at last that he is innocent of the murder. But all his other problems remain.

Cast

Release

''The Assassin'' was released on April 1, 1961. It was distributed by

Titanus Titanus is an Italian film production company, founded in 1904 by Gustavo Lombardo (1885–1951). The company's headquarters are located at 28 Via Sommacampagna, Rome and its studios on the Via Tiburtina, 13 km from the centre of Rome. Lom ...

References

External links

* 1961 films 1960s crime thriller films Giallo films Italian crime thriller films Italian black-and-white films 1960s Italian-language films Films directed by Elio Petri Films with screenplays by Tonino Guerra 1961 directorial debut films 1960s Italian films {{crime-thriller-film-stub