The Iron Prefect (1977): Giuliano Gemma Cleans Up Sicily (Review)

This week’s release from Radiance is Pasquele Squitieri’s 1977 movie Il Prefetto di Ferro, alternatively known as both The Iron Prefect and I Am the Law in English speaking territories. Fans of Italian genre cinema take note, Radiance offers this up as a delicious primer ahead of their epic Cosa Nostra trilogy boxset of films which will finally be released next week after some delay. Only halfway through their debut year, Radiance are proving to be a real blessing to us cinefiles.

The Iron Prefect (I’ll use the title Radiance are releasing it under) is based on a book of the same name by Arrigo Petacco concerning the life of Cesare Mori, a magistrate/law enforcer who, in 1925, was recruited by Mussolini himself as prefect of Palermo, given the express order of eradicating the powerful influence held by the Mafia upon the island of Sicily. Granted carte blanche to re-establish the rule of law and the authority of the state (and, in turn, strengthen Mussolini’s rule in the previously lawless region), Mori set out, Elliot Ness style, to wage a near one-man war on the Mafia and Brigante that lasted four years. Though his personal philosophy was to create a bond between the population and the state, removing – like a surgeon would remove a cancer – those criminals who would set themselves up as the first port of call for the peasant population’s grievances, his intractable nature meant that he often viewed those very people as accomplices working to preserve the stranglehold they find themselves in. This is particularly evident in the film’s depiction of his most famous operation, the occupation of the village of Gangi, occured in 1926. With the Carabinieri and police forces, an estimated 800 men at his disposal, Mori performed house to house searches which led to sweeping arrests, but not before he cut off the village’s water supply in order to create tensions within. This hard-line approach rightly earned him his nickname, ‘Prefetto di Ferro’ – ‘the Iron Prefect’. Some 11,000 arrests have been attributed to Mori’s time in Palermo, lending credence to the argument that he was a victim of his own success; the court system near collapsing under the weight of the paperwork alone. However, another argument points to the fact that Mori uncovered collusion between the Mafia and the apparatus of the state itself, including the Church and prominent members within the Fascist party. Either way, Mori’s tenure concluded in 1929 – promoted upwards to the Italian Senate. With his influence limited and more time on his hands, Mori was left to write his memoirs. Published in 1933, The Last Struggle with the Mafia advised caution regarding Mussolini’s alliance with Hitler, the result of which left him even more isolated from Italy’s influential power base. He died in 1942, a near forgotten figure.

It was the producer Gianni Hecht Lucari who saw the potential in adapting Arrigo Petacco’s non-fiction book for the big screen and he hired screenwriter Ugo Pirro to deliver a screenplay. Envisioning a period epic that would have international appeal, the producer reached out to Hollywood legend Burt Lancaster and offered him the role of Mori opposite Claudia Cardinale as a proud, defiant Sicilian peasant woman. Lancaster accepted and significant headway was made pre-production until the star discovered a tumour which forced him to withdraw from making the movie. The director of The Iron Prefect was Pasquale Squitieri, who had served his time on Italy’s most prosperous Filoni of the 1960s, the Spaghetti Western, directing films like Django Defies Sartana and Vengeance is a Dish Best Served Cold under the moniker William Redford. A Neopolitan, Squitieri had begun to turn to what he knew, writing and directing movies that explored the underbelly of organised crime in films like 1974’s Blood Brothers – a Mafiosi period piece starring Claudia Cardinale, Franco Nero and Fabio Testi – and 1975’s The Climber which saw Joe Dallesandro play an opportunistic American con on the road to the top. Faced with the loss of Lancaster, it is said that Squitieri was asked who ought to replace him in the leading role of Cesare Mori. His response, according to the legend, was “Anyone but Giuliano Gemma”

Much like Squitieri, Gemma made his name – or rather, the Westernised name of Montgomery Wood, another thing he had in common with the director – starring in Spaghetti Westerns. The most famous of these were the Ringo movies for Duccio Tessari, A Pistol for Ringo and The Return of Ringo (both 1965), which traded on his dazzling smile and wholesome blonde looks. Michele Lupo’s Arizona Colt followed in 1966, along with a starring role opposite Lee Van Cleef in Tonino Valerri’s Day of Anger the following year. These films saw Gemma build upon the screen persona he had created with Ringo and explore it in more depth, with the occasional emphasis on the shade as much as the light. Despite this, Squitieri couldn’t rid himself of the impression of Gemma’s free and easy, flourescent smile and it is presumably the reason for his remark. The director rightly saw Mori as a taciturn, serious figure, not a carefree hero with a megawatt beam for every occasion. What he didn’t see was that Gemma was a very good actor who was more than happy to subvert any expectations that the audience – or his director, for that matter – had of him. He was also a huge admirer of Burt Lancaster, so it appeared fated that he should take his place. Gemma diappears within the austere figure of Mori, his pince-nez and stiff collars aiding the ramrod straight image of an unimpeachable, unbending embodiment of order. It’s a really strong performance. In contrast, Cardinale suffers in a thankless role that essentially serves only as a physical metaphor for the Sicilian spirit.

As a film, The Iron Prefect is an extremely satisfying mix of Italian Filoni cinema. The conflict between lawman and gangsters recalls the Poliziotteschi that were still doing incredible business at the domestic box office at the time of its release, whilst the fact that many of the confrontations occur on horseback against lush panoramas, combined with Mori’s ‘Sheriff’ like persona, will put audiences in mind of the Spaghetti Westerns. Lastly, the level of corruption that Mori uncovers brings to mind the political, social conscious thrillers that Italian cinema flourished in making during the ‘Years of Lead’; films like Francesco Rosi’s The Mattei Affair (1972) and, from the same year, Marco Bellocchio’s Slap the Monster on Page One. It’s also a beautifully made period film, tapping into Italian history and the ‘heritage’ genre that Squitieri had explored with the earlier, aforementioned Blood Brothers and Visconti’s 1963 epic The Leopard (which had starred Burt Lancaster) and which reached its bloated zenith with Bertolucci’s near six hour slog 1900, released the year prior to this. The film also pays fitting tribute to the traditions of oral storytelling with composer Ennio Morricone collaborating with Sicilian poet Ignazio Buttitta to produce The Ballad of Prefetto Mori. Sung by folk singer Rosa Balistreri, this plays throughout the movie, grafting a sense of the folkloric to the already myriad genre styles.

Viewed purely in cinematic terms, as a piece of entertainment, The Iron Prefect is an unmitigated success. Viewed as a biography however, not so much. Right from the off, Squitieri’s film faced criticism for its downplaying of Mori’s fascist sympathies. Whilst it is true that Mori had expressed concern in his memoirs for Italy’s alliance with Nazi Germany, the fact remains that the same book sees the author describe himself as a fascist and delivers several examples of admiration for Mussolini and the actions of the National Fascist Party. Mori had joined the party himself in 1924, a year prior to his appointment in Palermo from Mussolini. The Iron Prefect skirts around this unpalatable truth in a number of ways. Firstly, it is at great pains to point out that Mori had arrested several Fascist Brigantes in Bologna prior to his arrival in Palermo, the upshot of this being that several characters who identify as fascists in positions of authority, are heard to express caution regarding the suitability of Mori for the role. This suitability is later tested when one pays a visit to Mori’s office and offers him the gift of a lapel pin depicting the familiar emblem of Italian fascism – the Eagle with Fasces – remarking that he has noted he did not have one. Pirro’s script is very careful here in depicting how Gemma as Mori deals with the situation. He replies with gratitude, but explains that he chooses not to wear one because “A man is either a fascist or he isn’t” A loaded beat follows, before Gemma adds “With or without the badge”. It’s a moment that highlights how The Iron Prefect is a film that wishes to cover all its bases. It doesn’t want to depict Mori innacurately, but at the same time it chooses ambiguity as a means to present him as the hero the movie requires.

This Radiance release is a 2K restoration of the movie from its original negative, boasting extras such as a 2009 inteview with Squitieri and Gemma, a new interview with Squitieri biographer Domenico Monetti and a new appreciation of Giuliano Gemma from filmmaker Alex Cox. Unavailable to this reviewer, the set is rounded off with a limited edition booklet featuring writing from Guido Bonsaver.

Mark’s Archive: The Iron Prefect (1977)