Assassin, The (DVD)

THE LADYKILLER OF ROMEReleased within months of Fellinis La Dolce Vita and Antonionis La Notte, Elio Petris dazzling first feature The Assassin (LAssassino) also stars Marcello Mastroianni, this time as dandyish thirtysomething antiques dealer Alfredo Martelli, arrested on suspicion of murdering his older, far wealthier lover Adalgisa (Micheline Presle). But as the increasingly Kafkaesque police investigation proceeds, it becomes less and less important whether Martelli actually committed the crime as his entire lifestyle is effectively put on trial.Best known for Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion and The Tenth Victim, Petri was one of the finest and yet most underrated Italian directors of the 1960s and 70s. Highly acclaimed on its original release but unjustly neglected since, The Assassin is a remarkably assured debut from one of the cinemas sharpest chroniclers of Italian social and political realities. Petri said that he wanted to reflect the changes wrought by the early