Hands Over the City

When a residential building collapses at the start of Francesco Rosi's Hands Over the City, it exposes a web of corruption that the director investigates with a journalistic rigour. A dubbed Rod Steiger brings characteristic intensity to the role of a property developer simultaneously trying to extricate his family from scandal and secure votes for an upcoming election.

Hands Over the City largely consists of men having discussions and debates in crowded rooms, but this potentially dry material is invigorated by Rosi's direction. His roving camera makes us feel like unseen observers in these clandestine meetings, and the performances he draws from his cast (including members of the Naples City Council, playing themselves) generate gripping drama.

This is a film propelled by a genuine outrage at the chicanery of contemporary politics and a keen awareness of the human cost; over 50 years after it won the Venice Golden Lion, its power and resonance have not dimmed. [Philip Concannon]