The Day of the Owl (1967) (Blu-ray) (UK Import)

The Day of the Owl stars Franco Nero (Django) as a police chief who, while investigating the death of a construction worker, goes up against corrupt officials and a ruthless mafia boss (Lee J. Cobb, On the Waterfront). Adapted from the celebrated novel by Leonardo Sciascia (Illustrious Corpses, Todo Modo), The Day of the Owl was the first book to openly deal with organised crime in Sicily. Director Damiano Damiani followed in the civic-minded cinema of Francesco Rosi and Elio Petri while forging a new path for the action-orientated cinema of the poliziottesco that would follow, creating something uniquely his own. A prestigious production, it was in the running for best film at the Berlin Film Festival and found wins at home in the David di Donatello Awards for stars Nero and Claudia Cardinale, along with Damiani (A Bullet for the General), and Best film.

Specials

Bonus Footage, Documentaries: 'Identity Crime-Sis'; 'Casting Cobb: A Tale of Two Contents', Interviews: New interview with Franco Nero (actor); Archival interview with Franco Nero, Ugo Pirro (writer) and Lucio Trentini (production manager); Archival interview with Claudia Cardinale (actor), Original Italian version (109 min) and shorter export cut (103 min) included, Trailers

Rezensionen

Lexikon des Int.​Films: "Die beklemmende Verfilmung eines Romans, die die Ursachen für das Funktionieren der mit wirtschaftlichem Gangstertum verbundenen Mafia aufzeigt.​"