The Fascist

The Fascist

1961. Italy/France. Directed by Luciano Salce. An anarchical comedy of the first order, Luciano Salce’s Il federale stars Ugo Tognazzi in his breakthrough performance as Primo Arcovazzi, a fanatical graduate of the Black Brigade (the Northern Italian fascist paramilitary), who stands to earn a promotion if he transports a notorious anti-fascist intellectual to Rome for “rehabilitation”—with the partisans, Germans, and Allied Forces all nipping at their heels. DCP from Luce Cinecittà. In Italian; English subtitles. 98 min.