Francesco Rosi

Hands over the City

Hands over the City

Rod Steiger is ferocious as a scheming land developer in Francesco Rosi's Hands over the City, a blistering work of social realism and the winner of the 1963 Venice Film Festival Golden Lion. This expose of the politically driven real-estate speculation that has devastated Naples's civilian landscape moves breathlessly from a cataclysmic building collapse to the backroom negotiations of civic leaders vying for power in a city council election, laying bare the inner workings of corruption with passion and outrage.

Film Info

  • Italy
  • 1963
  • 100 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.85:1
  • Italian
  • Spine #355

TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Neapolitan Diary (1992), Francesco Rosi's feature-length sequel to Hands over the City
  • Interviews with Rosi, film critic Tullio Kezich, and filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin
  • Discussion between Rosi, co-writer Raffaele La Capria, and film critic Michel Ciment
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Stuart Klawans and a 2003 interview with Rosi

    Cover by Danijel Zezelj

Purchase Options

TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES

  • Restored high-definition digital transfer
  • Neapolitan Diary (1992), Francesco Rosi's feature-length sequel to Hands over the City
  • Interviews with Rosi, film critic Tullio Kezich, and filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin
  • Discussion between Rosi, co-writer Raffaele La Capria, and film critic Michel Ciment
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic Stuart Klawans and a 2003 interview with Rosi

    Cover by Danijel Zezelj
Hands over the City
Cast
Rod Steiger
Edoardo Nottola
Salvo Randone
De Angelis
Guido Alberti
Maglione
Angelo D'Alessandro
Balsamo
Carlo Fermariello
De Vita
Marcello Cannavale
Friends of Nottola
Alberto Canocchia
Gaetano Grimaldi Filioli
Terenzio Cordova
Prosecutor
Dante Di Pinto
President of inquiry committee
Vincenzo Metafora
Mayor
Credits
Director
Francesco Rosi
Producer
Lionello Santi
Story
Francesco Rosi
Story
Raffaele La Capria
Screenplay
Francesco Rosi
Screenplay
Raffaele La Capria
Screenplay
Enzo Provenzale
Screenplay
Enzo Forcella
Production manager
Enzo Provenzale
Cinematography
Gianni Di Venanzo
Music
Piero Piccioni
Editing
Mario Serandrei

Current

Hands over the City: Confidential Reports—The Investigative Thrillers of Francesco Rosi
Hands over the City: Confidential Reports—The Investigative Thrillers of Francesco Rosi

Throughout the sixties and seventies, the Italian director created a series of political dramas that were at once provocations, exposés, puzzles, and acts of virtu­osity.

By Stuart Klawans

Paul Schrader’s Top 10
Paul Schrader’s Top 10

It's pretty hard to go wrong selecting ten “best” or ten “favorites” from the Criterion Collection, although it might be interesting to select the ten worst Criterion releases (something that, in deference to my friends at Criterion, I will n