Fists in the Pocket

Director: Marco Bellocchio
Year Released: 1965
Rating: 3.0

A deranged family suffers at the hands of one of its members - an epileptic who's determined to wipe them all out. It's hard to dismiss a film so out-of-control: the herky-jerky editing suggests disharmony, and the lack of respect for the father (biological and presumably dead) or the Father (the State) - brought on, no doubt, by the director's Marxist leanings - or any kind of biological ties and boundaries (between sisters or brothers) is quite daring. Not always successful as a narrative (it's more of a stream-of-consciousness affair than plot-driven exercise) but unforgettable as a story of uncontrollable madness and dysfunction.