Slap the Monster on Page One

Summary

“I’m hoping for a hijacking. That would move some papers…or a massacre.”

Radiance Films over the last few years has proven itself to be one of the best labels for discovering hidden gems of world cinema. The interests of the label have proven to be sprawling, highlighting films from Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, and the United States. Italy and Japan in particular have received a lot of attention from Radiance, and were the two nations that were represented on their inaugural couple releases. One of the more recent discoveries for me through this label was the 1972 Italian political thriller Slap the Monster on Page One, starring the late great Gian Maria Volonte. I watched the picture the other night and then took in the special features on the disc to gain a little more insight into the context of the film.

The year is 1972. It is a time of political unrest in Italy. Socialists and communists are raging against capitalists and the capitalists are raging against communism in the streets of Milan. As the film starts, some radicals wearing red bandanas over their faces throw a Molotov cocktail into the window of Il Giornale, a famous right-wing newspaper. The editor of the paper, Giancarlo Bizanti (Gian Maria Valonte) takes a photo next to the burning embers of some papers burnt in the attack, along with some photos of the protesters in the streets below. The paper uses the attack on the newspaper to craft an alarmed editorial. Their front story the next day focuses on the “Red Guerrillas” and the injuries sustained during the protest. Across town, a teenage girl’s dead body is found in a forested area.  She shows signs of rape. An inexperienced but talented reporter named Roveda (Fabio Garriba) is assigned to cover the case. The dead girl is Maria Grazia Martini, the daughter of Professor Italo Martini, a prominent doctor. Bizanti and Roveda meet with the doctor at his home. They grab some photos of the girl’s room, which is covered in posters. They begin running stories about the case as the populace seeks justice. They locate a car in a junkyard that the school janitor claims Maria stepped into just hours before she died. The car happens to be owned by an anarchist named Mario Boni (Corrado Solari.) Bizanti and his team see a chance to help their political ally against his opponent Fetrinelli in the upcoming elections by running stories about the case. If they can run stories building up the girl as a saintly virgin while vilifying her anarchist murderer, it will help take away attention from a controversy their contender is embroiled in. Bizanti is less interested in the truth of the case than in pushing forward his political agenda.

Slap the Monster on Page One was made more than a half century ago, yet the ideas the film explores are still timely. The script by Sergio Donati (with assistance by Goffredo Fofi) paints a picture of journalistic bias and lack of journalistic integrity that is very easy to apply to the talking head era in which we live. The script was very perceptive. Donati was the director of the film for a week before he was replaced with director Marco Bellocchio. Bellocchio did a wonderful job of capturing the zeitgeist of the era. The numerous protests that are shown in documentary fashion are mostly indistinguishable from the moments of political upheaval shot specifically for the picture. Realism is the key to the film working well, and Bellochio draws strong convincing performances out of his cast. The best of the performances comes from Gian Maria Volonte as Bizanti. Bizanti is both extremely intelligent and morally repugnant. He is as charming as he is manipulative and destructive. With Volonte playing the role, you never have any doubts that this character exists. Laura Betti plays a teacher named Rita Zigai who is in love with a young revolutionary who preys upon her kindness. Betti is well cast in the film, although at some points she might broadcast the inner anguish of her character without enough subtlety. Fabio Garriba is believable in the role of Roveda. Corrado Solari plays Mario with the right mixture of brash energy. Silvia Kramer rounds out the cast as Maria Grazia Martini. The picture is shot exceptionally well. The camera movements from Bellocchio and cinematographers Luigi Kuveiller and Erico Menczer highlight the indoor and outdoor spaces where the film takes place. The camera setups provide a lot of depth in almost every shot which adds to the realism of the proceedings. I really enjoyed the way this picture was filmed.

Overall – Slap the Monster on Page One is a very good political drama. It is the first film from Marco Bellocchio that I have seen, and I hope to see more of his pictures in the future.

Video

Slap the Monster on Page One arrives on Blu-ray in 1080p from Radiance Films in its original 1.85:1 aspect ration. From the booklet: “Slap the Monster on Page One was restored in 4K resolution from the original camera negative by Cineteca di Bologna in collaboration with Surf Film and Kavac Film, under the supervision of director Marco Bellocchio. The film is presented in the original aspect ratio with original mono audio.” The film was shot by cinematographers Luigi Kuveiller and Erico Menczer who do an excellent job of mixing documentary footage at the beginning of the picture with their staged footage. The picture is very well shot with great depth of focus. Some of the shots are particularly striking such as when Bizanti walks the newspaper printing room or when Maria and Mario walk on the grass next to the creek flowing with trash. The look of the film is striking while never feeling pretentious. Fans of the picture will be very pleased to see how great the picture looks on the Blu-ray format. Grain is well resolved and the coloring of the picture is convincing. Its another stellar effort from Radiance Films.

Audio

Radiance Films has provided a DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono track in Italian. The track has good clarity and the score by Nicola Piovani is notable when it is employed in the picture. Fans of the film should be happy with this track. 

Supplements:

• Marco Bellocchio – in this archival interview, the director discusses working on the picture and taking over the film one week into shooting.
• Mario Sesti – the film critic and writer explains the “Strategy of Tension” to help explain the political context of the film. He explains that Belocchio was fascinated by the political issues of the Seventies and documented them again in his films Buongiorno notte and Esterno Notte later.
• Alex Cox – film director and writer Alex Cox discusses his admiration of the picture and its prescient nature while also examining a couple key sequences in the picture. 
• There is also an attractive booklet featuring writing by Wesley Sharer.

Overall Scores:

Video – 4.75/5

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 3.5/5

Overall – 4.25/5

Slap the Monster on Page One portrays a world of journalism in which the truth is not as important as what political aims can be achieved with a story. The picture is pretty cynical, but feels prescient in the world of talking heads in which we live now. Bellocchio did a solid job of capturing the political landscape of 1972 Milan while bringing the best out of the script by Sergio Donati. Gian Maria Volonte is superb in the lead role. The 4K restoration by Cineteca di Bologna used for this release is very attractive in 1080p. Like many Radiance films, I had not heard of this picture until it was given a release, but was glad to be exposed to it. This film and release come recommended.