If you want to know what marxism-madrakism is, don't miss this movie! A great example of smart and politicized Italian cinema of the seventies, a real cult in my opinion. The main character is a sort of modern times psychopathic robin-hood whom works as a clerk in a bank, but is allergic to money! At a certain point he is so exasperated that he decides that he must mine rich people's private property in order to give a shock to their lives. His main target is a rich butcher (Ugo Tognazzi), but he decides not to steal his money, but things that he needs more: his butcher knife, tool of his trade, his hat, his woman... In the meantime, he enters the dark world of delinquency meeting a professional thief which he manages to blackmail so that he can help him in his misdoings. Between the world of marxist idealism and pure delinquency, the whole story is fantastic and unreal, with references to Fromm's "Life between having and being". The character would like to "have" (money and things) but in the same moment he also wants to "be" (save his personality), but he undesrtands that it's impossible ("This is the problem!", he repeats) . The final is also fantastic, with the thief's funeral in which a great Gigi Proietti gives us a monologue on the importance of thiefs in society. A must for lovers of the genre.
6 Reviews
Petri's surrealism
m-sendey17 February 2013
A young bank worker Total (Flavio Bucci) witnesses a robbery, in which one of the thieves gets caught and beaten by an avaricious, rich butcher (Ugo Tognazzi). He can't come to terms with the fact that in spite of being always a righteous man, he has never managed to gather as much money as all other people including the above-mentioned man. He vows to prosecute him and drive him insane by stealing everything that belongs to him, along with his lover Anita (Daria Nicolodi).
In this third part of "the neurosis' trilogy", Petri tackles inequality in society, the issue of property and last but not least money itself. None of Petri's movies is straightforward and this one is no exception. While among Petri's works are more and less demanding ones, this one must be together with A Quiet Place In The Country (1968) and Todo Modo (1976) his weirdest creation. Therefore, there is nothing strange about the fact that the film wasn't acclaimed in its premiere. It's a bold, remarkably modern satire which is bound to leave you confused and make you think about it long after it's over. Apart from his usual collaboration with A-grade cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller (Argento's Deep Red, 1975), the director utilizes a really grotesque plot and a perfect illustration of this is our protagonist who is allergic to money. In addition to this, there is a frequent use of stagey scenes, therefore the ensemble looks everything but ordinary. A soundtrack is composed by Ennio Morricone. It is very "avant-garde" and owing to some creepy whispers included (Io ho – I have, tu hai - you have, egli ha – he has, essi hanno – they have) already comments the events that are occurring on the screen.
The cast isn't too bad, unfortunately Flavio Bucci, who is surely a good actor, appears to be a bit inexperienced in comparison to Volonte for example, thus the film lacks a strong leading actor. Daria Nicolodi and Ugo Tognazzi give strong performances. One can spot Salvo Randone as well, who as always plays his role very well.
With this flick, Petri shows that human takes part in the rat race in order to become more powerful, socially accepted and approved, irrespective of all hidden necessary, immoral ways. The character of the butcher represents the rich and Petri points out that all those people who want to dominate, are unscrupulous and pitiless, as the poor who often are honest ones will never achieve better life conditions, since either they are limited by religious as well as state laws or on breaching overtly all those moral boundaries they are banished from the society. The only way to render their life acceptable is to obey the rules and submit to opulent people, who are protected on account of their wealth and power. Another interesting aspect of the movie is comparing a bank, which is heart of consumerism, to the church. To make this allusion even more visible, the bank is full of images depicting the Holy Trinity. Also, just like in the "Holy Church", in the rat race, which is called here a "religion of property", there is a certain hierarchy and blasphemies (when the clerk Total sets a banknote on fire, the director is disgusted and almost throws a tantrum).
However, it's more fascinating to analyze it than to behold it, as the plot seems to flow quite slowly, there isn't enough black humor to keep the climax amusing. The script with its full resonance overwhelms the viewer to the extension that one feels a bit tired and the twisted Marxism - Madrakism message appears to be slightly too radical. Nonetheless it does have plenty of splendid ideas, electrifying score of Morricone, erotically-tinged atmosphere, strong direction, and hence this is a good piece of political cinema. Although it isn't as marvelous as his previous films, it certainly encapsulates the political situation of those times in Italy perfectly.
In this third part of "the neurosis' trilogy", Petri tackles inequality in society, the issue of property and last but not least money itself. None of Petri's movies is straightforward and this one is no exception. While among Petri's works are more and less demanding ones, this one must be together with A Quiet Place In The Country (1968) and Todo Modo (1976) his weirdest creation. Therefore, there is nothing strange about the fact that the film wasn't acclaimed in its premiere. It's a bold, remarkably modern satire which is bound to leave you confused and make you think about it long after it's over. Apart from his usual collaboration with A-grade cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller (Argento's Deep Red, 1975), the director utilizes a really grotesque plot and a perfect illustration of this is our protagonist who is allergic to money. In addition to this, there is a frequent use of stagey scenes, therefore the ensemble looks everything but ordinary. A soundtrack is composed by Ennio Morricone. It is very "avant-garde" and owing to some creepy whispers included (Io ho – I have, tu hai - you have, egli ha – he has, essi hanno – they have) already comments the events that are occurring on the screen.
The cast isn't too bad, unfortunately Flavio Bucci, who is surely a good actor, appears to be a bit inexperienced in comparison to Volonte for example, thus the film lacks a strong leading actor. Daria Nicolodi and Ugo Tognazzi give strong performances. One can spot Salvo Randone as well, who as always plays his role very well.
With this flick, Petri shows that human takes part in the rat race in order to become more powerful, socially accepted and approved, irrespective of all hidden necessary, immoral ways. The character of the butcher represents the rich and Petri points out that all those people who want to dominate, are unscrupulous and pitiless, as the poor who often are honest ones will never achieve better life conditions, since either they are limited by religious as well as state laws or on breaching overtly all those moral boundaries they are banished from the society. The only way to render their life acceptable is to obey the rules and submit to opulent people, who are protected on account of their wealth and power. Another interesting aspect of the movie is comparing a bank, which is heart of consumerism, to the church. To make this allusion even more visible, the bank is full of images depicting the Holy Trinity. Also, just like in the "Holy Church", in the rat race, which is called here a "religion of property", there is a certain hierarchy and blasphemies (when the clerk Total sets a banknote on fire, the director is disgusted and almost throws a tantrum).
However, it's more fascinating to analyze it than to behold it, as the plot seems to flow quite slowly, there isn't enough black humor to keep the climax amusing. The script with its full resonance overwhelms the viewer to the extension that one feels a bit tired and the twisted Marxism - Madrakism message appears to be slightly too radical. Nonetheless it does have plenty of splendid ideas, electrifying score of Morricone, erotically-tinged atmosphere, strong direction, and hence this is a good piece of political cinema. Although it isn't as marvelous as his previous films, it certainly encapsulates the political situation of those times in Italy perfectly.
Society and Its Critic
gavin69427 April 2017
Total (Flavio Bucci), a young bank cashier, has been wondering for some time if his life, with its grey, dismal prospect, is worth living. He is aware of the illicit careers and rise to riches of many of his clients. He decide to start a new life : new clothes, new cars, new women. His "new look" begins discreetly, a few small robberies in supermarkets, progressing to more important fraud.
Director Elio Petri, best known for "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion" (1970), felt that "Property" emphasized the role of money in our society and how power destroys the individual. Although he had left the Communist Party by this point in his life, he still had strong leftist and anti-capitalist leanings that are evoked in this narrative. Even the title is a clear allusion to anarchist writer Proudhon. His producer, Claudio Mancini, has been described s a "middle class Communist", which I think would also suit Petri very well.
Our lead character describes himself as a "Mandrakian Marxist" and others have pointed out that he commits "symbolic thefts (that) expose the hypocrisy inherent in the concept of property." It really is interesting. He has no intention to better himself, but instead prefers to be largely an annoyance to a butcher who visits the bank. A serious thief would, I assume, be planning a bank heist. What systemic change can be achieved by merely making a few things disappear?
Star Flavio Bucci had previously worked with Petri on "The Working Class Goes to Heaven" (1971), though he is best remembered today for his supporting role in Dario Argento's "Suspiria" (1977). Coincidentally, Argento's longtime partner Daria Nicolodi appears in "Property", a year before she ever met Argento. Heck, even cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller would go on to work with Argento on "Deep Red" (1975). The Italian cinema is an incestuous world.
Another reviewer notes the interesting role Nicolodi plays in this world: "As much an object in the Butcher's eyes as his other possessions, Anita represents one of Property's most interesting, and troubling, qualities. Utterly passive in the face of multiple sexual assaults and apparently complicit in her own objectification, Anita is emblematic of one of the uglier aspects of Italian crime cinema of the era." What I find interesting about this casting is that Anita is seen as property (a common sentiment of the time), but this fact is made known to the audience. Nicolodi herself could easily be considered a feminist; whereas Italian cinema was (and is) a man's world, she left her mark on scripts like few other women.
Last, and certainly not least, we should call attention to the under-rated score. The composer, Ennio Morricone, is anything but under-rated. But this is not one of the films he is often associated with, and yet I would say it is some of his finer work. Unfortunately, the Arrow Video release does not have an isolated score track or bonus disc, but if a stand-alone soundtrack does not already exist, I imagine it will soon.
Arrow Video brings us a 4K restoration from the original film negative, and brand-new interviews with actor Flavio Bucci, producer Claudio Mancini, and make-up artist Pierantonio Mecacci (yet another Argento veteran). We learn much about Bucci's career, and his admiration for Mancini (whom he says we owe a great debt to). Mancini speaks widely, including on "Todo Modo", so viewers are able to get a sense of that debt Bucci mentions. Mecacci has plenty of stories about a strike and other noteworthy events, and speaks fondly of his work with Nicolodi; for being the "make-up artist", he was very much involved in every aspect of the shooting.
Director Elio Petri, best known for "Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion" (1970), felt that "Property" emphasized the role of money in our society and how power destroys the individual. Although he had left the Communist Party by this point in his life, he still had strong leftist and anti-capitalist leanings that are evoked in this narrative. Even the title is a clear allusion to anarchist writer Proudhon. His producer, Claudio Mancini, has been described s a "middle class Communist", which I think would also suit Petri very well.
Our lead character describes himself as a "Mandrakian Marxist" and others have pointed out that he commits "symbolic thefts (that) expose the hypocrisy inherent in the concept of property." It really is interesting. He has no intention to better himself, but instead prefers to be largely an annoyance to a butcher who visits the bank. A serious thief would, I assume, be planning a bank heist. What systemic change can be achieved by merely making a few things disappear?
Star Flavio Bucci had previously worked with Petri on "The Working Class Goes to Heaven" (1971), though he is best remembered today for his supporting role in Dario Argento's "Suspiria" (1977). Coincidentally, Argento's longtime partner Daria Nicolodi appears in "Property", a year before she ever met Argento. Heck, even cinematographer Luigi Kuveiller would go on to work with Argento on "Deep Red" (1975). The Italian cinema is an incestuous world.
Another reviewer notes the interesting role Nicolodi plays in this world: "As much an object in the Butcher's eyes as his other possessions, Anita represents one of Property's most interesting, and troubling, qualities. Utterly passive in the face of multiple sexual assaults and apparently complicit in her own objectification, Anita is emblematic of one of the uglier aspects of Italian crime cinema of the era." What I find interesting about this casting is that Anita is seen as property (a common sentiment of the time), but this fact is made known to the audience. Nicolodi herself could easily be considered a feminist; whereas Italian cinema was (and is) a man's world, she left her mark on scripts like few other women.
Last, and certainly not least, we should call attention to the under-rated score. The composer, Ennio Morricone, is anything but under-rated. But this is not one of the films he is often associated with, and yet I would say it is some of his finer work. Unfortunately, the Arrow Video release does not have an isolated score track or bonus disc, but if a stand-alone soundtrack does not already exist, I imagine it will soon.
Arrow Video brings us a 4K restoration from the original film negative, and brand-new interviews with actor Flavio Bucci, producer Claudio Mancini, and make-up artist Pierantonio Mecacci (yet another Argento veteran). We learn much about Bucci's career, and his admiration for Mancini (whom he says we owe a great debt to). Mancini speaks widely, including on "Todo Modo", so viewers are able to get a sense of that debt Bucci mentions. Mecacci has plenty of stories about a strike and other noteworthy events, and speaks fondly of his work with Nicolodi; for being the "make-up artist", he was very much involved in every aspect of the shooting.
The cumulative effect is drainingly powerful
philosopherjack3 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Elio Petri's Property is No Longer a Theft may at times seem overly didactic and single-minded, but then it's dealing with a subject that properly continues to inspire such obsessive frustration - the all-pervading, all-defining influence of capitalism, such that it's unclear whether "I am" and "I have" can be meaningfully distinguished as forms of identification. It's embodied here by Ugo Tognazzi's Macellaio, who continues to work a day job in his butcher shop (a bit improbably perhaps, but the recurring association with raw meat makes its own point) while amassing a huge portfolio of property and material assets, much of it in some way shady, so that when Total, a former bank clerk, keeps on targeting him as a subject of (relatively petty) theft, Macellaio's main concern is about the police getting too close. Macellaio embodies the self-righteousness that's only become more prominent since then, certain that his defining role in the structure absolves him of all other sins (of course, his self-justification of himself in Biblical terms omits any consideration of the passage about a camel going through the eye of a needle) - his sexuality is as much a matter of distorted commodification as everything else, with his mistress explicitly viewing herself as a worker who clocks in and out. At the same time, it's persuasively suggested that society relies almost as much on petty criminals, not least because they provide a constant stream of easy distraction from what the real crooks are getting away with. Total, meanwhile, obtains little gratification or lasting benefit from his actions - he's even afflicted with an allergy to money itself, its proximity sending him into chronic itching. At various times Petri disrupts the reality to have the main characters address the audience directly from a disembodied space, although you might argue the film hardly needs such accusatory Brechtian underlining. Still, the cumulative effect is suitably, drainingly powerful.
Major discovery!
christopher-underwood26 January 2014
Absolutely fabulous film from director, Elio Petri, this is Italian crime without a car chase or punch up (well almost). More than a hint of the politics in the title and this is such a well told tale of corruption and theft. Or to put it another way, the rich person's crimes versus those of the poor. What is worse creaming off the cash on a building project or stealing someone's jewellery? When I first heard the film was political and comedic, I was very wary but how well this is done and the comic moments are funny and are not slapstick silliness. All the performances are great including a wonderful one from Daria Nicolodi (she of many early Argento movies) as she hobble about in heels and hot pants. The main storyline follows a humble young bank cashier who takes offence at the crimes of the local butcher (who has fingers in many pies) and decides to try and teach him a lesson. I had never heard of this film before but am stunned at the quality of the film and can unreservedly recommend this for I sat smiling throughout, constantly being stimulated by the arguments around the notion of theft. Major discovery and now for the rest of the trilogy.
Petri's masterpiece remains a blackly funny, darkly sensual assault upon the bourgeoisie!
Weirdling_Wolf30 August 2020
In maestro, Elio Petri's final gripping instalment of his outstanding "trilogy of neurosis", the hugely respected, enviably versatile Italian director's stunning satire 'Property is No Longer a Theft' (1973) is a blackly funny, darkly sensual assault upon bourgeois sensibilities that uncomfortably feels more than a little relevant 40 years on, and is therefore richly deserving of the recently restored, downright essential Arrow Academy Blu-ray, which lavishly presents the exceptionally intelligent, savagely skewed satire, 'Property is No Longer a Theft' in so gloriously a vivid fashion as to highlight the uncommon perspicacity of the film's deliciously caustic script!
Featuring immaculate performances from a remarkable cast of Italian screen icons: Ugo Tognazzi, Flavio Bucci, and a memorably eccentric turn by the incomparable Giallo siren, Daria Nicolodi. Elio Petri's stylish, rewardingly literate, sacred cow slaughtering satire provides a feast of visually stimulating filmmaking from this inventive Italian iconoclast, and, lastly, but by no means beastly, the impeccable, Ennio Morricone score is yet another sublime sonic triumph from the unrivalled musical iconoclast! Deservedly rescued from languishing ignominiously in some forgotten film vault, Petri's immersive, fascinatingly enigmatic agitprop thriller positively scintillates on HD, and resolutely retains all of its considerable power to delight, and enthral those canny cineastes who have the conspicuously good taste to track down Petri's unusually cogent masterpiece!
Featuring immaculate performances from a remarkable cast of Italian screen icons: Ugo Tognazzi, Flavio Bucci, and a memorably eccentric turn by the incomparable Giallo siren, Daria Nicolodi. Elio Petri's stylish, rewardingly literate, sacred cow slaughtering satire provides a feast of visually stimulating filmmaking from this inventive Italian iconoclast, and, lastly, but by no means beastly, the impeccable, Ennio Morricone score is yet another sublime sonic triumph from the unrivalled musical iconoclast! Deservedly rescued from languishing ignominiously in some forgotten film vault, Petri's immersive, fascinatingly enigmatic agitprop thriller positively scintillates on HD, and resolutely retains all of its considerable power to delight, and enthral those canny cineastes who have the conspicuously good taste to track down Petri's unusually cogent masterpiece!
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