This 1971 winner of the Best Foreign Film award at the Oscars is a controversial, memorable piece of work. The twisty-turny narrative of Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto goes over the top with its political content (comparing police authority and fascism in ways that will make conservative viewers squirm) but its thriller elements work like a charm, creating an almost suffocating atmosphere of paranoia that becomes more intense as it reaches its end. Elio Petri's directorial approach rises up to meet the demands of the narrative, making effective use of lush photography from Luigi Kuveiller and a quirky score from Ennio Morricone to create a setting for the tale that is alluring, horrifying and blackly comedic by turns. However, the most important elements to selling the world of Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto is the performances. Thankfully, they deliver the necessary flesh-and-blood intensity: Gian Maria Volonte is frightfully convincing as the anti-hero, a man whose inner turmoil expresses itself through a desire to twist and control the lives of others, and Florinda Bolkan is seductive and chilly by turns as the free-thinking object of his romantic obsession. In short, Indagine su un Cittadino al di Sopra di Ogni Sospetto remains a disorienting and effective piece of agit-prop, even if one doesn't agree with its messages.