Fist in His Pocket (I pugni in tasca) (1965)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Robert C

  
  Very interesting film. Quirky, yet chilling and at times very intense. At first you feel that Alessandro is only trying to help his older brother (the most "stable" fammily member) out and free him from his burdensome family obligations, but as the film progresses it… More
  Very interesting film. Quirky, yet chilling and at times very intense. At first you feel that Alessandro is only trying to help his older brother (the most "stable" fammily member) out and free him from his burdensome family obligations, but as the film progresses it becomes less clear as to what his motive is. Lou Castel does a wondeful job at keeping you guessing. Ultimately a very sad (but interesting) look at what has to be one of the MOST dysfunctional familes ever put to film.

• Bruce B

  
  This film is a selection from the Criterion Collection, Spine No #333. Like all movies in the Criterion Collection it is far from what is seen on the big screen in America. If you enjoy films that are somewhat different then I recommend that you venture in to this collection of over… More
  This film is a selection from the Criterion Collection, Spine No #333. Like all movies in the Criterion Collection it is far from what is seen on the big screen in America. If you enjoy films that are somewhat different then I recommend that you venture in to this collection of over 400 plus films from some of the greatest directors in the world. This is about a young man who has seizures and has a sister, a mother who is blind, and a brother who is also handicapped, He wants to take the burden off his normal brother so he starts eliminating family members one by one. A 3 1/2 star performance.

• Stefanie C

  
  What an awesome and twisted debut film!!! Dark, subversive, and a scathing indictment of bourgeois family values. Family dynamics don't become more dysfunctional than this. Lou Castel's performance as the anti-hero is unforgettable. The camera-work in this film dramaticlly… More
  What an awesome and twisted debut film!!! Dark, subversive, and a scathing indictment of bourgeois family values. Family dynamics don't become more dysfunctional than this. Lou Castel's performance as the anti-hero is unforgettable. The camera-work in this film dramaticlly diverges from neo-realism, forging a new language in Itailian cinema.

• Stella D

  
  this is brilliant. a milestone of sixties film and still amazingly fresh. lou castel's performance as a disturbed man hatching a matter-of-fact plan to get rid of his troublesome family is incredibly chilling, at times bordering on the blackest of comedies. with a lovely… More
  this is brilliant. a milestone of sixties film and still amazingly fresh. lou castel's performance as a disturbed man hatching a matter-of-fact plan to get rid of his troublesome family is incredibly chilling, at times bordering on the blackest of comedies. with a lovely eerie score by morricone. i will never hear la traviata again without thinking of this film

• Stephen M

  
  Here's a film to ease your mind if you're worried about your family being dysfunctional! I think a lot of reviews I've read of this are too eager to accept Alessandro's own, romanticised excuse for his crimes: that he is easing his elder brother Augusto's… More
  Here's a film to ease your mind if you're worried about your family being dysfunctional! I think a lot of reviews I've read of this are too eager to accept Alessandro's own, romanticised excuse for his crimes: that he is easing his elder brother Augusto's burden of responsibility as head of the family. He is far too selfish for that! Their sister, Giulia, is nearer the mark when she tells Augusto that Ale hates being surrounded by incurables because they stifle his dreams. I found the relationship between Giulia (Paola Pitagora) and Ale (Lou Castel) the most fascinating aspect of the film. A pair of vain, childish thrill seekers, they spend most of the first hour at each other's throats, apart from one eerie embrace, prompted by mutual insecurity, as they eavesdrop on one of Augusto's telephone calls to his girlfriend. Amazingly, Ale's killing spree actually brings the brother and sister closer together. Obviously, there was only so much immorality you could slip past the censor in 1965, but the incestuous chemistry between them is surprisingly potent. The film is at its weakest when the common sense of the outside world threatens to unravel Ale's dreams. To minimize this problem, director Marco Bellocchio cuts from the murders straight to the victims' wakes, after the dust has settled. Even so, the fact that Ale escapes all suspicion takes a good deal of swallowing, as does Giulia's statement to Augusto that there is not enough evidence against Ale to hand him over to the police. What about that handwritten confession???

• Tim S

  
  The story was a little too over the top for me, but there are some amazing scenes. Lou Castel keeps you watching.

• Eric B

  
  Among classic Italian films of the '60s, "Fists in My Pocket" is an anomaly. There are no lavish sets or dazzling landscapes. No sense of a virtuoso director at work. There isn't even a flamboyant acting performance. Just a repressed, claustrophobic study of… More
  Among classic Italian films of the '60s, "Fists in My Pocket" is an anomaly. There are no lavish sets or dazzling landscapes. No sense of a virtuoso director at work. There isn't even a flamboyant acting performance. Just a repressed, claustrophobic study of characters. The entire film takes place within one isolated home suggesting some degree of old wealth. The resident family is a mother, three sons and a daughter. Their last name is never given. The mother is blind. The first son, Augusto, is responsible and business-minded while the daughter, Giulia, is relatively stable and (let's face it) stunningly photogenic. But their problem brothers Leone and Alessandro are epileptic. Furthermore, Leone is a vacant idiot who's as helpless as a toddler and Alessandro...well, Alessandro is troubled. The plot is launched when Alessandro decides that Augusto is dragged down by all his dysfunctional family members and would be better off without them. So, he begins plotting to murder them. After he successfully eliminates the mother, he tells Giulia. And rather than turn him in, she ambivalently keeps his secret. See, they have the family's closest relationship -- perhaps because Giulia's caresses are the only remedy that helps Alessandro's seizures. Meanwhile, Augusto plans to get married and spend more time away from home. A home that will plunge into chaos without him. It doesn't take much imagination to realize this scenario will not end well. Ennio Morricone composed the music, but it's one of his least identifiable scores. It's more abstract and somewhat jazzy, and the only piece with his obvious signature is heard on a record that Alessandro briefly plays in his room.

• Walter M

  
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Fists in the Pocket", Augusto(Marino Mase) is the first of his siblings to seek a life outside of his family by having a serious relationship with Lucia(Jeannie McNeil). His sister, Giulia(Paola Pitagora), takes this well and writes Lucia a… More
  [font=Century Gothic]In "Fists in the Pocket", Augusto(Marino Mase) is the first of his siblings to seek a life outside of his family by having a serious relationship with Lucia(Jeannie McNeil). His sister, Giulia(Paola Pitagora), takes this well and writes Lucia a mock-threatening letter. His brother, Alessandro(Lou Castel), has a possible course of action to lessen Augusto's responsibilities of caring for his blind mother(Liliana Gerace) and slow-witted brother, Leone(Pier Luigi Troglio), by driving them all of a cliff on the way to visit their father's grave...[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]Written and directed by Marco Bellocchio, "Fists in the Pocket" is a deliciously macabre movie about no matter how much we may grow up and leave home, our family will always be a large part of our lives. And the sick and the infirm always need to be cared for properly.[/font]

• Dimitris S

  
  Bellocchio grabs the opportunity to literally punch the audience in the groins.While there aren't specific motives as to why the "anti-hero" is willing to vanquish himself and his family,the reason of wretched misery is more than enough to comprehend his torture.

Read all 9 featured audience ratings