Fists in the Pocket
A volatile young man turns rebellion against his diseased family into a chilling campaign of domestic murder.
Overview
A chilling exploration of a mind unraveling under the weight of obsession and family duty.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Graphic
- sinister
- claustrophobic
- sardonic
- arthouse film night
- classic cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly regard Bellocchio's debut as a brilliantly unconventional and astonishingly assured work of psychologically disturbing Italian art cinema.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Bellocchio's debut was later described as a Free Cinema inspired break with neorealist tradition, using a family melodrama as an instrument of revolt.
Alessandro's obsessive project targets the family he regards as diseased and seeks to free Augusto from its burden.
The household's ordinary family setting is rendered ominous through illness, disability, alienation, and a sequence of murders.
Alessandro develops a deliberate plan to eliminate relatives he views as burdens, moving from an aborted attempt toward repeated killings.
Films like Fists in the Pocket, and why
The Celebration
Shared family pathology, transgressive rebellion, and unsettling psychological drama.
Theorem
Shared bourgeois family dysfunction, corrosive repression, and claustrophobic social critique.
The Passenger
Shared alienated youth, morally destabilizing provocation, and breakthrough art-house intensity.
The Little Foxes
Shared blackly comic treatment of domestic violence, social decay, and anti-naturalist provocation.
Movie Details
- Director
- Marco Bellocchio
- Release Date
- 1965-10-26
- Runtime
- 110 min
- Rating
- 7.8 / 10 (232)
Cast
- Lou Castel
- Paola Pitagora
- Marino Masé
- Liliana Gerace
- Pier Luigi Troglio
- Jeannie McNeil
- Irene Agnelli
- Sandra Bergamini
- Celestina Bellocchio
- Lella Bertante
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Criterion Channel
- Rent
- Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Fists in the Pocket about?
- A volatile young man turns rebellion against his diseased family into a chilling campaign of domestic murder.
- What is Fists in the Pocket like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Fists in the Pocket as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Fists in the Pocket violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Fists in the Pocket as graphic.
- What did critics think of Fists in the Pocket?
- Critics broadly regard Bellocchio's debut as a brilliantly unconventional and astonishingly assured work of psychologically disturbing Italian art cinema.
- Which films are like Fists in the Pocket?
- Films with a similar feel include The Celebration, Theorem, The Passenger, and The Little Foxes.
- How long is Fists in the Pocket?
- Fists in the Pocket runs 110 minutes.
- Where can I watch Fists in the Pocket?
- In United States, Fists in the Pocket streams on Criterion Channel.
