1968 ‘Il giorno della civetta’ Directed by Damiano Damiani
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island town to look into the death of a construction supplier. Once there he is shocked by the influence the Mafia has over the people and even himself.
Mafia, Uglens dag, La mafia fait la loi, Dzien puszczyka, El silencio del diablo, Mint a bagoly nappal, O Dia da Vergonha, Денят на кукумявката, День совы, Сова появляется днём, Der Tag der Eule, Day of the Owl, La Mafia fait la loi, Don Mariano weiß von nichts, El día de la lechuza, Сова появляется днем, 白天的猫头鹰, O Dia da Coruja, El dia de l'òliba, Den sovy, Dzień puszczyka
Italy
Germany16
Hungary16
Germany
Hungary
Italy
“Some people smell like corpses even before they’re dead.”
Women, cement and cuckolds. A road engineering poliziotteschi. Then again, I’m not sure if it’s technically an early example of the genre because Franco Nero doesn’t punch or shoot anybody. The murder of a construction driver in Sicily sets off an investigation, the carabinieri, “like flies on carrion.” Zealot captain Bellodi (Franco Nero), a northerner amongst southerners, is on the case, using every method at his disposal (phony confession letters, witness intimidation, extrajudicial informants) to secure an indictment of "Don" Mariano Arena (Lee J. Cobb).
I hesitate to call this a poliziotteschi because Bellodi’s methods are within the gray area of the law, while that genre is largely focused on violent…
General spoilers ahead.
Based on a novel by Leonardo Sciascia, the same man who wrote the source material for Elio Petri's We Still Kill the Old Way (1967), Damiano Damiani's Day of the Owl, also set in Sicily, is far less dark than the previous film, but it nevertheless trades upon the same issue of corruption, as well as the futility of resistance. Moved into production because of the success of the earlier film, The Day of the Owl, too, was a big hit, to such a degree that it "paved the way for a subgenre about the Mafia — something which so many people back then pretended [didn't] exist."*
Whereas Petri's film follows the futile investigative work of a private…
"To forget the dead, there's no better remedy than economic difficulties."
A man is murdered, his body propped up by the side of the road for all to see. A bus drives by, brimming with passengers, speeding up as it passes as if to avoid seeing, but a police officer on board forces it to stop. "Things like that are better left unnoticed," a commuter comments, acknowledging that "things like that" happen on a regular basis, it’s just better not to see it, better not to think about it, "better left unnoticed." It is the repressed violence that underwrites the supposed peace of the existing social order, the proof of force that attests to the established…
My first dip into the long-awaited Radiance box-set of Damiano Damiani/Franco Nero mafia tales and an amazing discovery right off the bat.
This unsung classic of socially committed cinema moves high up on my list of the greatest films of 1968, one of the best ever years for international cinema. Damiani is a masterful, if perennially underrated director of socially and politically relevant films. He had already directed the greatest of all political Westerns, A Bullet For The General, in 1966. With Day Of The Owl he shifted his interests to contemporary times, kicking off a fascinating series of films that deal with problems of organized crime and corruption in Italy.
What struck me right from the start is the stunningly…
Franco Nero, Claudia Cardinale and Lee J. Cobb in a gritty mob drama directed by Damiano Damiani.
This couldn’t be more up my alley if it tried.
Early crime drama from Damiano DamianI. The tone is far more serious than the bulk of the films that Eurocrime would come to be known for. There's not a lot of action and the film is rather talky - but the story is involving and the overarching plot which focuses on a police captain trying in vain to bring a suspected mob boss to justice, is well done. The film features a trio of standout performances; a young Franco Nero in the lead, and great support from Lee J Cobb and Claudia Cardinale. The film is set in a small town in Scicily and the director makes the best of this as everything is very claustrophobic, building to something of a pressure cooker at the end. The ending itself is satisfying, if not exactly conclusive!
A wonderfully downbeat and gritty look under the flashy exterior of small-town mob life with leading man Franco Nero in seething form as a policeman trying to solve a murder when the entire town begins to close ranks around their 'gentleman' Don.
A construction worker is killed on the back roads of Sicily and a simple murder investigation begins to uncover layer upon layer of greed and corruption, with Nero engaging in a battle of wits with the local Don played stoically and almost heroically by legend Lee J Cobb. The film ignores the usual mob beats to focus on the fascinating trail of breadcrumbs that implicate everyone from local businessmen to farmers and even the wife (played with graceful…
Damiano Damiani's fantastic adaptation of the Leonardo Sciascia novel of the same name, The Day of the Owl is a superb crime drama about a young Carabinieri captain determined to bring down the organised crime element in his small Sicilian town, following the murder of a civilian worker, and disappearance of another who is suspected of being a witness to the brutal attack.
Damiani directs a wonderful script that sits all the key players at varying positions on the good and evil scale. There's no doubting that Don Mariano (played here by an always brilliant Lee J. Cobb, even if we are sadly missing his growl in the Italian dub) is the bad guy, and his weasel cohorts are equally…
Wonderfully and excitingly shot movie based on the novel by Leonardo Sciascia. The trio of Cardinale, Cobb and Franco Nero are convincing in every scene. As brutal as reality and an iconic ending.
It’s a slow and fairly realistic police procedural movie. But director Damiano Damiani knows how to keep things interesting and engaging. The three stars, Franco Nero, Claudia Cardinale and Lee J. Cobb also give excellent performances and provide the film with some potent star power. The Day of the Owl isn’t the most flashy Italian crime thriller ever made. In fact, it works much more as a character focused drama with a strong social component. So don’t expects much action, sex and thrills. But it is a well-made, written and acted film absolutely worth your time of you like the Italian crime genre.
Set in Sicily. A construction truck driver is murdered close to the home of ‘Rosa’. Police captain ‘Bellodi’ investigates, unravelling a web of corruption and silence leading to mafia don ‘Mariano’. A slick, playful, exciting, twisting, compelling, (poliziotteschi-leaning) cat-and-mouse crime drama from Damiano Damiani. Boasting stylish and thoughtful photography, a fantastic and complimentary score and a brilliant climax. Exploring themes including morality, trust, secrets / silence, intimidation, vast corruption and its consequences. It’s a tough world where people struggle, where crime pays, and where the good Bellodi resorts to some very questionable methods for his investigation. Nero, Cardinale and Cobb deliver superb performances in their respective roles - with Cobb particularly exceptional, as he brings such a presence. Recommended.
Radiance Films release viewed.
I picked up Radiance's Cosa Nostra blu-ray set featuring 3 films by Damiano Damiani with Franco Nero (it's missing Confessions of a Police Captain, which is a bummer as I heard a lot of good things about that one, but oh well, maybe limited by distribution rights--).
First in that set is The Day of the Owl or Franco Nero as police captain attempts to take on the conspiracy of silence in a Sicilian town and finds himself pitted against Lee J Cobb. Claudia Cardinale plays an aggrieved wife caught in the middle.
It was filmed in a town near Palermo, but if you ask me, the best indicator of quality authenticity was allowing flies to remain in the frame.…
