It is an allegory of corrupted power set amid a retreat of Christian Democrat politicians who conduct spiritual exercises together.
Elio Petri directed the 1976 Italian drama film Todo modo. It is the final film of the director Elio Petri and actor Gian Maria Volonté’s cinematographic, but also political and intellectual union, which led to the triumph of Italian political cinema in the 1970s. It is loosely based on Leonardo Sciascia’s novel of the same name. It is a portrayal of the Christian Democrats’ aberrant men in authority. The picture premiered on April 30, 1976.
Todo modo, made at the same time as Francesco Rosi’s Illustrious Corpses (1976), and inspired by a work by Sciascia, contributes to the efforts of Italian film in challenging the political destiny of a country in crisis. The picture was restored in 2014 owing to the efforts of the Bologna Film Library and the Turin National Cinema Museum.