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Fists in the Pocket

Play trailer Poster for Fists in the Pocket 1965 1h 45m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 81% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Augusto (Marino Mase) is the oldest son in a dysfunctional Italian family that includes a blind mother (Liliana Gerace), a selfish sister, Giulia (Paola Pitagora), and two epileptic brothers, Alessandro (Lou Castel) and Leone (Pier Luigi Troglio). Augusto is planning to marry Lucia (Jennie MacNeil) despite Giulia's repeated attempts to drive them apart, but cannot do so while taking care of the clan. An angry and unstable Alessandro decides to help Augusto by killing their mother and siblings.
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Fists in the Pocket

Critics Reviews

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Judith Crist New York Magazine/Vulture 10/01/2019
Madness and murder, inversion and perversion are carried to almost ludicrous proportions but Bellocchio never loses control of a manner or a mood and there are a number of superb performers on hand to enforce the validity of the film. Go to Full Review Renata Adler New York Times 07/15/2006
It is sealed and stifling, gray and extremely powerful-about as attractive as somebody coughing wretchedly beside you on a subway. And as insistent. Go to Full Review Ed Gonzalez Slant Magazine 04/12/2006
3/4
Shot impeccably by Alberto Marrama and dipped in hushed Ennio Morricone lullabies, the film's visual intensity presents the iconography of a world in transition. Go to Full Review Brian Susbielles InSession Film 02/14/2023
Considered a game changer in Italian cinema, writer/director Marco Bellocchio’s debut is a disturbing satire on the family. Go to Full Review Jean-André Fieschi Cahiers du Cinéma 02/02/2021
[Bellocchio] has achieved the ambition of every young film-maker -- he holds up a mirror in which his own generation can recognize the conditions of its own existence. Go to Full Review Nicholas Bell IONCINEMA.com 08/11/2020
4/5
As fascinating and compelling now as it was fifty years ago, Fists in the Pocket is a murderous portrait of familial dysfunction, like a Grey Gardens with a death wish. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Scott R @ScottR Nov 25 NYT 1000 list. A fascinating Italian family study, that was twisted, unnerving, and bizarre. Saw on YouTube. See more 08/31/2021 Que filme profundamente triste, que família infeliz, que drama melancólico e depressivo, que atuações fortes e intensas, conseguem transmitir toda dor e desespero, toda bondade e altruísmo dúbio dos personagens... Marco, em sua obra, conseguiu transparecer toda a pureza e desespero dos acometidos de distúrbios, físicos ou psicológicos, a mazela de uma sociedade capacitismo e exclusão, obra divina. See more dave s 10/23/2020 Fists in the Pocket is an odd film, no matter how you look at it. It is a bleak and claustrophobic look at a family ravaged by physical infirmities and mental illness. Three brothers, a sister, and their mother live in a mountain villa in Italy. Only one of the brothers appears to be unafflicted. His younger brother, epileptic and seemingly psychotic, hatches a plan that would set his brother free from being the provider and caretaker for the rest of the family. The subject matter is unsettling, as is director Marco Bellocchio's style. Characters walk in and out of focus at times. Smoothly edited scenes will periodically cut in a seemingly needless shot. Overall, it is an impactful film that is topped off with a truly uncomfortable final scene showing a main character having a seizure while an operatic score is played. Odd. See more 09/08/2019 Is it an allegory of the rise of fascism, its ultimate hypocrisy, and its eventual downfall? The films stays with you long after it is over. See more 05/17/2018 A strange, dark and intriguing film, covered in Ennio Morricone's haunting music. Still can't find the right words to explain the story of this dysfunctional family. See more 11/28/2017 Tragic and sad. Regardless, It is still fascinating and well made. See more Read all reviews
Fists in the Pocket

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Cast & Crew

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Marco Bellocchio

Director

Lou Castel

Alessandro

Paola Pitagora

Giulia

Marino Masé

Augusto

Liliana Gerace

Madre

Pier Luigi Troglio

Leone

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Fists in the Pocket

Fists in the Pocket (1965) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Augusto (Marino Mase) is the oldest son in a dysfunctional Italian family that includes a blind mother (Liliana Gerace), a selfish sister, Giulia (Paola Pitagora), and two epileptic brothers, Alessandro (Lou Castel) and Leone (Pier Luigi Troglio). Augusto is planning to marry Lucia (Jennie MacNeil) despite Giulia's repeated attempts to drive them apart, but cannot do so while taking care of the clan. An angry and unstable Alessandro decides to help Augusto by killing their mother and siblings.
Director
Marco Bellocchio
Screenwriter
Marco Bellocchio
Production Co
Doria
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Italian
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 25, 2006
Runtime
1h 45m
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