THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN

CERT 15

The first release from Radiance films, (a new contender to the Blu Ray market, we wish every success to) THE WORKING CLASS GOES TO HEAVEN is an interesting choice. Italian cinema has always been a combustable mix of politics and personality. The nation state and the nations that make up that state have themselves been joined, as much by unrest as by connected histories. When many a Roman emporer was taken down by their people, it was often to do more with the infringement on personal liberties as it was to do with political strife. Just before the Red Brigade and the political left were to make life difficult for many an Italian and after the Fascists of Il Duce had lead to a costly and destructive war, the stage was set for friction. So into this mix walks Gian Maria Volonté (A Fistful of Dollars), and provocative filmmaker Elio Petri (Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion). As the many extras show here (Cox’s 10 min odd piece is my personal fave, as he gets the film and more so its star), Volonté and Petri were in no mood to soften their respective concerns.

When factory worker Lulu is injured on the job, his impending nervous breakdown is given a catalyst. He turns revolutionary, protesting against the factory he once worked overtime for. Its not the loss of his finger, his lack of sleep, the lack of sex with his girlfriend or how his ex cut him out of his son’s life. Its that he feels humiliated, disrespected, powerless. The only outlet is to scream at the system but as Cox puts it, Lulu isnt a nice guy. We dont warm to him. The stages of his decline are surreal and darkly comic in place. Sometimes cynical and occasionally mean. Italian were past the days of glory and betterment. Now they were monetary units and tools for industry. Capitalism as crushing device of enrichment and physical destruction. The Working Class Goes to Heaven – Background to a Film Shot in Novara explores these themes in an often incomprehensible way. Asking of us a lot but giving little back. This said, what you may find of the factory and its effect on the spirit is beneficial to the films message. It didnt resonant with me, as much as Cox. Who nails Volonté, thereby grasping the films praxis. Petris film won the Palme d’Or, something that it certainly deserved to. Singled out was the performance from Volonté, but also add to the mix, the churning score by Ennio Morricone and stunning cinematography by Luigi Kuveiller.

Limited Edition Special Features:

• 2K restoration of the film
• Original uncompressed mono PCM audio
• New and improved English subtitle translation
• Archival interview with Elio Petri from the Cannes Film Festival
• Career-encompassing archival interview with Gian Maria Volonté from French TV
• Archival interview with actor Corrado Solari
• Appreciation of Gian Maria Volonté and the film by filmmaker Alex Cox
• Petri’s Praxis: Ideology and Cinema in Post-war Italy – A visual essay by scholar Matthew Kowalski on Petri’s relationship with left-wing politics and its impact on his cinema
• The Working Class Goes to Heaven – Background to a Film Shot in Novara (2006), by Serena Checcucci and Enrico Omodeo Salé; an unconventional making-of documentary, exploring the real-life factory location where the film was shot and the story behind the film’s production there, as told by the staff, film extras and crew
• Trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic Eugenio Renzi, Elio Petri Investigation of a Filmmaker author Roberto Curti on Petri and Volonté’s collaborations and relationship, archival writing and reviews to be confirmed
• Limited edition of 2000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings