A psychological dark humour satire on corruption in high office, telling the story of a top police officer who commits a crime, and then begins manipulating the investigation by planting obvious clues while the other police officers ignore them, either intentionally or not. 1971 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
A recently promoted police inspector nicknamed "Il Dottore" kills his mistress, and then covers up his involvement in the crime. He insinuates himself into the investigation, planting clues to steer his subordinate officers toward a series of other suspects, including the woman's gay husband and a student leftist radical. He then exonerates the other suspects and leads the investigators toward himself to prove that he is "above suspicion" and can get away with anything.
"The tone is interesting, more parable than realistic narrative, and most people will have thought of Kafka long before the closing quotation from The Trial. Except this is reverse angle Kafka: Authority at its most nightmarish as seen through the eyes of a torturer." (Time Out Magazine)