The Mattei Affair
Francesco Rosi (Italy | 1972)
Winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and co-written by Tonino Guerra and Francesco Rosi, this mix of documentary and fiction reconstructs the life of oil executive Enrico Mattei (Gian Maria Volonté), one of the most powerful men in postwar Italy, while exploring the circumstances surrounding his mysterious death in a 1962 plane crash. Documentary footage of the director looking for the investigative journalist Mauro De Mauro, who went missing during filming, his body never found – itself one of the great mysteries of modern Italy – eerily echoes Mattei’s own unsolved case.
35mm print courtesy of Cinecittà Luce.
