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Made in the wake of the recent slayings of Italy's two chief anti-Mafia investigators, this agonisingly tense political thriller has all the powerful intimacy and emotional complexity of German director Margarethe von Trotta's earlier work - The Sisters and Dark Times in particular.
Compelling and genuinely frightening, The Long Silence is a devastating portrait of love and loyalty under siege in a maelstrom of corruption and organised violence. From its subtly chilling opening shot, the film, set in Rome, tells the story of Carla, a doctor struggling to live her life as normally as possible whilst being married to Marco, a magistrate investigating corruption at the highest level. The constant threat of his assassination hangs between them, a silent third partner in their relationship, and increasingly cuts them both off from the simple freedoms of day to day living. What happens when, despite all the precautions, tragedy strikes? What are the feelings of those who are left behind? Anger, fury, desperation, vengeance, impotence, madness? Do they close up within themselves or do they attempt to fight back using any means possible? These are just some of the questions Von Trotta addresses, and it is in her poignant and uniquely personalised portrayal of the emotional dimensions of this crisis in Italian society that the film's greatest strengths lie. For like Tognazzi's La Scoria, The Long Silence draws its inspiration from the most urgent issue in Italy today, the indictments and trials that have rocked the country over the last three to four years.
- Winner Most Popular Feature: 1993 Montreal World Film Festival