Sacco & Vanzetti (1971)

This case still affects not just in the so-called Roaring Twenties but also of today and of our future. As we see that Nicola Sacco and Bartholomeo Vanzetti, two Italian born men and devout anarchists were executed due to their anarchists beliefs.Murder was gruesome in Brantree, MA but it was their beliefs and the Red Scare that really not just divided a nation but divided a whole entire world.Case that still haunts us in the twenties, haunts us today and for the future. As the tag line says "If it happened once, it could happen again!" The late, great Riccardo Cucciolla and late great, Gian Marie Volente in the respected Sacco and Vanzetti roles. Were made as scapegoats as they could not get a fair trial as the criminal justice system also looked at them being Italians, which were in the minority at the time.Sacco was the quiet family man shoemaker and Vanzetti was more of the spokesman, fish peddler of the two and more of the talker. And maybe would had been a college professor if he had a college degree had it probably not been for his beliefs or being Italian. That they are portrayed to be. As the case also takes a toll on their families along the way.Cyri Cusack as a bullying prosecutor steals the movie. As he wants to just get them to the electric chair asap it seems over their beliefs. Despite the worldwide protests over them, Cusack's character finally gets his wish.A case that should be studied all over the world!

In 1920, the anarchist Italian immigrants Niccola Sacco (Riccardo Cucciolla) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (Gian Maria Volonté) are sentenced to death, falsely accused of a robbery and murder. Indeed they are condemned due to their political beliefs, in one of the most shameful and hypocrite judgments of the human history. In 1971, the exhibition of "Sacco and Vanzetti" was forbidden in Brazil, and the first time I could watch it was when Brazil was leaving the military dictatorship regime in a movie theater specialized in art movies. I was very impressed with the story of one of the greatest injustice of a judiciary system, mostly because it happened in the "land of freedom". Gian Maria Volonté, as usual, and Riccardo Cucciolla offer one of the most touching and beautiful dramatic interpretations I have ever seen. This movie was recently released by the best (not in quantity of titles but in their quality) Brazilian distributors called Versatil. The DVD is completely restored, in widescreen and full of Extras, showing footages of this infamous trial. The musical score of Joan Baez and Ennio Morricone is another attraction. I expected to see this outstanding movie among the IMDb Top 250, but it seems that its worldwide distribution does not work well, and there are only 185 votes in 2005. My vote is ten.Title (Brazil): "Sacco & Vanzetti"

It is perhaps not without significance that Guiliano Montaldo worked as Assistant Director on Gillo Pontecorvo's brilliant KAPO, since there is a tangible link in terms of attitude, emotional power and political commitment between this film and Pontecorvo's other outstanding films. Great films are, very often, a means of conveying ideas, and, as Pudovkin once said, film is the greatest teacher because it reaches us both through the head and the emotions. Maybe this is why politically correct authoritarians are always chiding us `not to be sentimental' since emotions are something these control freaks can't orchestrate!Whatever one's views about the political sympathies of Sacco and Vanzetti, this film shows that they were victims of the hysterical climate of the times and place in which they found themselves, and their plight is represented with great humanism, empathy and power, helped in no small measure by the superb musical score of Ennio Morricone, which must rank as one of his very best. Montaldo's whole technique is thoroughly cinematic, and the acting and all technical credits are faultless.One somewhat disturbing aspect of this film however, was when I saw it in the USA, Sacco in his final speech from the dock declared, `We stand here because we are anarchists', (it struck at the time because I never thought I'd live to see the day that such a piece of dialogue would be delivered in a film distributed by MGM!), but, in its only screening in the UK on BBC television, this line was changed to `We stand here because we are radicals'. Hmmm! Not quite the same thing. On two other occasions I have noticed `creative subtitling' on French speaking movies, so maybe we should start a campaign for accurate and faithful subtitles!A brilliant film, in my all-time top 100, so when is anyone going to issue it on video?

A very gripping and moving film with a very fine cast and strong performances. This film makes a very strong impact and will make you think of Sacco and Vanzetti and the reasons why they were executed on the electric chair.