Dillinger is Dead (1969)

Synopsis: Long unavailable, this exclusive engagement of Ferreri’s masterpiece will be presented in a new 35mm print courtesy of Janus Films. Michel Piccoli stars as Glauco, an alienated industrial designer... Long unavailable, this exclusive engagement of Ferreri’s masterpiece will be presented in a new 35mm print courtesy of Janus Films. Michel Piccoli stars as Glauco, an alienated industrial designer yearning to break free from his materialistic, humdrum existence. When he discovers a revolver tucked away in a kitchen cabinet one night— wrapped in old newspapers announcing the death of John Dillinger, the notorious bank robber and murderer—the gun becomes a symbol of redemption and freedom as he ritualistically sheds the vestiges of his bourgeois life. A scathing critique of middle-class values loaded with ironic, pop-art imagery—a handgun painted red with polka dots, a lawn statue wearing a gas mask—and set to a kitschy 60s AM pop soundtrack, Dillinger Is Dead is playful, powerful social commentary.

Marco Ferreri was born in Milan in 1928 and produced commercials before working on Italian neorealist features. He began directing and screenwriting his own films in Spain, returning to Italy after the success of The Wheelchair (El Cochecito) (1960) at the Venice Film Festival. Ferreri’s cynical scripts, absurd humor, and anarchic visual style, lend themselves well to his favored themes and content: he frequently incorporates taboo or nihilistic imagery -- suicide, murder, cannibalism, orgies, self-mutilation, and gluttony all feature in his oeuvre -- in provocative films about the alienating effects of modern urban life, the workplace, and consumer culture that mix surreal and realistic elements. This sensibility is evident in Dillinger Is Dead, a film which provoked controversy when released, as much for its violent conclusion as the unsettling implications of its satire. The film, now considered by many scholars and critics to be one of the best Italian films of its era, was widely praised by French critics at Cahiers du cinema at the time, and by Jean-Luc Godard. After Dillinger, Ferreri worked in France, making four additional films with Piccoli: Liza (1972), La Grande Bouffe (The Big Feast) (1973), Don’t Touch the White Woman! (Touche pas á la femme blanche) (1974), and The Last Woman (La Dernière Femme) (1976). Select honors include the Grand Prix for Bye Bye Monkey (Ciao maschio) (1978) and the FIPRESCI Prize for La Grande Bouffe at the Cannes Film Festival; the FIPRESCI prize for Tales of Ordinary Madness (Storie di ordinaria follia) (1981) at the San Sebastian Film Festival; and the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for The House of Smiles (La Casa del sorriso) (1988). Ferreri died in 1997 in Paris. --© BAM [More]

Starring: Michel Piccoli, Anita Pallenberg, Annie Girardot

Starring: Michel Piccoli, Anita Pallenberg, Annie Girardot

Director: Marco Ferreri

Director: Marco Ferreri

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