by Eleanor Mannikka
synopsis
Excellently directed by Elio Petri, this psychological and social drama illustrates the contrast between an older man's humanity and the reality of the world around him. When Cesare (Salvo Randone) sees a man die of a heart attack while on a streetcar, he is shocked into changing his own lifestyle before it is too late. So he quits his job and careers around the city, visiting museums, cultural centers, and old friendships or passions that passed him by earlier when he was too busy to notice. But as he runs into a former friend who seems to be corrupted, an old flame which has long since fizzled, and other people with obvious clay feet his attitude toward what he has missed begins to change.
