Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageThe Tragedy of a Ridiculous Man (1981)
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Tognazzi plays a rich Parma dairy farmer forced to sell up his greatest love - his material possessions - to meet the ransom demanded by a gang of terrorists who have kidnapped his son. In an attempt to fathom the siege mentality induced in an Italian society which had by then accepted terrorist violence as a commonplace, Bertolucci inverts the son-in-search-of-the-father theme of his most widely admired film, The Spider's Stratagem, and his small ensemble of lead characters begin to spin webs of deception - on each other, on us. The result is a mordantly witty tragi-comedy which matches the sombre tones of Carlo Di Palma's cinematography, but the style is no less flamboyant and seductive than that of Bertolucci's earlier films.Author: RM
Cast & crew
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Producer: Giovanni Bertolucci
Cast: Ugo Tognazzi, Anouk Aimée, Laura Morante, Victor Cavallo, Olympia Carlisi, Riccardo Tognazzi, Vittorio Caprioli, Renato Salvatori full cast
Duration: 116 mins
Top Stories
Ridley Scott interview
Director Ridley Scott tells Cath Clarke why he's making a science fiction comeback
Cannes Film Festival 2012: half-time report
Dave Calhoun reports on the hits, misses and a shocking new masterpiece from Michael Haneke
What do you think?
Post your review now