Radiance Films: Corruption (1963) - Reviewed

Images courtesy of Radiance Films

Though Arrow Video released the anthological arthouse camp horror comedy The Witches on Blu-ray disc around 2018 which consisted of four renowned Italian directors goofing on sexy witchcraft, the oeuvre of director Mauro Bolonini remains criminally unknown outside of his native country.  A wrong that now beloved and cutting-edge boutique releasing label Radiance Films is seeking to right, in their first release of one of his works with the 1963 sociopolitical satire Corruption restored in 2K and featuring a bevy of unique and informative extras audiences outside of Italy have their first chance to indulge in one of the country’s best kept secrets.  Featuring a trifecta of powerful leads including Alain Cuny, Jacques Perrin and Rosanna Schiaffino, Corruption is an out of the gate cinematic home run, a sexy and sardonic dark dramedy ruminating not just on expectations of the young heir to a financial empire but of patriarchal driven social hierarchies in general through the prism of then-contemporary Italy.

 
Young Stefano (Jacques Perrin) is the son of Leonardo Mattioli (Alain Cuny) a respected and wealthy publisher fresh out of college but with an ailing mother neglected by her husband while carrying a bombshell about to be dropped on his dad: rather than succeed Leonardo in the family business empire, Stefano instead wishes to become a priest.  Against this idea, Leonardo proposes they take a father-son vacation on his yacht to think things over while inviting his young hot mistress Adriana (Rosanna Schiaffino) along for the ride without telling Stefano first.  Immediately there’s awkward sexual tension, particularly with Adriana making overt passes at the young man clearly uncomfortable with how he’s being forced into close contact with her.  It doesn’t take long before Stefano and Adriana sleep together, all going to Leonardo’s plan to nudge him out of the nest into the man’s world.  To make matters worse, the now broken and conflicted Stefano learns there’s been a workplace suicide which apparently his seemingly doting and ‘loving’ father had a part in.

 
The story of an innocent man who is forcibly pushed into the arms of transactional sex to deter him from the cloth told through luminous and evocative black-and-white cinematography by Leonida Barboni reminiscent of the work on Woman in the Dunes and a haunted score by L’Avventura as well as Hiroshima Mon Amour composer Giovanni Fusco, Corruption is a searing multifaceted dark satire.  Partially a scenic vacation film spoken of the same breath as Knife in the Water with emphasis on skin and flesh in close-up ala the aforementioned Dunes epic, partially an unflinching examination of the gulf between the family unit and the Italian businessman corrupted by the vices of surviving city life, it paints a difficult picture with no easy leanings one way or the other. 

 
Featuring a commanding leading performance from Alain Cuny as the sleazy and manipulative publishing giant keen on ensuring his son’s ascent to the throne, Leonardo is positively Machiavellian in how he comforts and caresses his son lovingly under the guise of wanting to help when really he’s mercilessly intent on protecting his interests.  Jacques Perrin as the innocent youth being pushed into becoming a man like it or not is also powerful and emotive with many scenes of him scowling or crying as his God-fearing eyes can’t help but drift back to Rosanna Schiaffino’s exposed legs and back.  Schiaffino, much like the character of Adriana, perfectly understands the assignment at hand both on and offscreen, using and strutting her sexuality freely and sometimes nurturing to the anxious youth thrust into an unplanned sexual encounter.  The way she gazes back at Stefano and presents herself, even stepping out of the shower in one scene removing her towel section by section, her calculating and cunning motives are plain as day to the viewer while Stefano’s senses are overwhelmed and he doesn’t know how to deal with it but give in.

 
Presented on Blu-ray disc in the United States and United Kingdom for the first time via Radiance Films in the World Blu-ray Premiere, the 2K restored disc comes with an interview with critic and programmer Adrian Wooten, an archival interview with the film’s producers, a limited-edition collector’s booklet, reversible sleeve art and the time-honored OBI-spine.  Radiance Films never disappoints on either a technical, content or contextual front and Corruption is easily one of their finest acquisitions yet.  A blistering critique of the mercenary nature of Italian society driven by materialism and the need to preserve a dynasty or empire rather than live freely, it almost functions like a takedown of royalty and marrying against one’s wishes to maintain the lineage.  Radiance Films’ disc is wonderful with a fabulous transfer and extensive extras and represents one of 1960s Italian cinema’s undiscovered gems which has lost none of its edge or sex appeal or impish sociopolitical satire.  Buy with confidence!

--Andrew Kotwicki