Luigi Comencini
Delitto d'amore

Luigi Comencini evolves his analysis of the horror of a society that grants no respite, begun with "Lo scopone scientifico"; and he does so with a work that denounces the monstrous mechanisms of factories that pollute rivers and destroy nature. At the same time, the two protagonists of the film, Nullo and Carmela, are unwittingly trapped in their respective customs and traditions; the latter, especially, masterfully played by Stefania Sandrelli (who is, however, Tuscan), appears to be a victim not only of exaggerated values like family and honor but also of herself and her own childhood (the depiction of which was precisely the basic intent, already in the film "La ragazza di bube," according to Comencini). The cultural differences between her and her northern fiancé (Giuliano Gemma), both employed within the same factory located in the province of Milan, will at the same time give rise to quasi-comic situations, even though, as mentioned, the film diametrically deviates from the genre of the Italian comedy.

Throughout its duration, the film remains focused on the reflection concerning the wild industrialization of Northern Italy; from the lack of housing for southern immigrants, almost in disregard of their needs, to pollution, to the point that the factory and city eventually become two components of the same inferno. After all, Milan has always been a gray and polluted city, paralleled in the film with the semi-automated interiors of the factory in question. The product of this union appears to be, plausibly, precisely the ecological damage, accompanied by the defeat of the humble, despite being carriers of a truth that the wealthy do not possess.

The film was shot, precisely, in Cinisello Balsamo; the river visible, the Lambro, like other Lombard rivers, appears more as a polluted sewer, so much so that farmers could no longer use the irrigation systems designed by Leonardo da Vinci.
Returning to the film, which despite the multitude of themes addressed was not appreciated by critics nor by the public, it recalls "La ragazza di Bube" also for the intimate aspect of the relationship between the two main characters, albeit surrounded by very strong historical and social aspects; of which, however, the author disavows the political significance, or at least never considers it direct. The same ending; where Nullo, a character who is a trade unionist and anarchist by family tradition, will seek revenge against the degrading conditions of the factory, but also against those social struggles that ruined his love story with Carmela; does not intend to condemn the "masters" so much as perhaps to take advantage of a connotation of sentimentalism.