Sacco & Vanzetti (1971 film)

In April 1920, Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are charged in connection with the murder of a guard and a paymaster during the 15 April 1920, armed robbery of the Slater and Morrill Shoe Company in Braintree, Massachusetts. Their anarchist political beliefs are used as evidence against them, but defense attorney Fred Moore is convinced of their innocence. As anti-immigrant and anti-leftist sentiments run high, the two are repeatedly railroaded by the political and judicial establishment, who intend to make an example of the two. The two are found guilty and sentenced to death. Vanzetti attempts to get clemency by pleading guilty, but later retracts, praising the courage of Sacco, who, by not bending to the request for clemency, will have given full testimony of his own innocence. The two are executed by electric chair in 1927, maintaining their innocence to their deaths. ==Cast==

Development The film is based on a stage play of the same name, written by Mino Roli and Luciano Vincenzoni, which was first performed in Rome in 1960, and was a moderate critical and commercial success. Gian Maria Volonté and Riccardo Cucciolla had both starred in the original play, albeit in different roles (the former as Sacco and the latter as Celestino Madeiros). After obtaining the rights, Arrigo Colombo and Giorgio Papi wanted Yves Montand and Lino Ventura to play the lead roles. Filming Though Giuliano Montaldo wanted to shoot the film on-location in Boston, after scouting the area he realized it had changed too much since the events when the film took place. The only scenes shot in Boston was the Slater-Morrill Shoe Company factory, whose building was still relatively unchanged since 1920. The majority of the film was shot in Dublin, Ireland, while the prison scenes were shot in Yugoslavia. The remaining interiors were shot in Rome. == Music ==

The film's soundtrack was composed and conducted by Ennio Morricone, with song lyrics by the American folk singer Joan Baez. For the lyrics of "The Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti Part 1," Baez made use of Emma Lazarus' 1883 sonnet The New Colossus, the lines of which appear inscribed on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The song "Here's to You" is sung at the end of the film. For the lyrics of "Here's to You" Baez made use of a statement attributed to Vanzetti by Philip D. Strong, a reporter for the North American Newspaper Alliance who visited Vanzetti in prison in May 1927, three months before his execution: "Here's to You" plays in the 1978 film Germany in Autumn, accompanying footage of the funeral for Red Army Faction members Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin, and Jan-Carl Raspe, who had committed suicide. The song became known to a younger, video game-playing generation, due to its appearances in the Metal Gear Solid series (both in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, where it is featured within the latter game's story). The film soundtrack was released in a downloadable format in 2005 featuring fourteen tracks: • "Speranze di libertà" • "La ballata di Sacco e Vanzetti, Pt. 1" • "Nel carcere" • "La ballata di Sacco e Vanzetti, Pt. 2" • "Sacco e il figlio" • "Speranze di libertà" (#2) • "Nel carcere" (#2) • "La ballata di Sacco e Vanzetti, Pt. 3" • "Libertà nella speranza" • "E dover morire" • "Sacco e il figlio" (#2) • "La sedia elettrica" • "Libertà nella speranza" (#2) • "Here's to You" ==Reception==

Critical response Roger Ebert described the film as "one of the best" of the year. Ebert drew particular attention to the way that Montaldo handled his courtroom scenes: "A tricky area for any director, but one which the director handles in an interesting and maybe even brand-new way." Ebert wrote, With regard to the historical accuracy of the film, Ebert considered the film to be Regarding Gian Maria Volonté performance, Pauline Kael for The New Yorker said that Volonté was a "great actor" and that when he "marched to his death, you felt it would take a lot of juice to kill him." She goes onto to mention that "he isn't smoothly handsome [but that] he's so full of life he's beautiful." Political response The film, according to the testimony of its director, significantly contributed to the historical and moral rehabilitation of the two in the United States of America: when in a public ceremony held on 23 August 1977, the 50th anniversary of their execution, the governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis officially recognized the judicial error and the malice of the magistrates, the director Giuliano Montaldo was "invited to rehabilitation for having contributed to it." Awards and nominations In May 1971, Sacco & Vanzetti was a competition entry at the 24th International Film Festival of Cannes where, for his portrayal of Nicola Sacco, Riccardo Cucciolla won the award for Best Actor. Also that year, Rosanna Fratello was awarded Best Young Actress by the Association of Italian Film Journalists for her portrayal of Rosa Sacco (the wife of Nicola Sacco). Morricone's soundtrack won the ''Nastro d'Argento'' (Silver Band) prize in its category. == Restoration ==

The film was restored by the Cineteca di Bologna, the Istituto Luce and Rai Cinema in 2017. ==See also==