**Elio Petri (1929-1982)** was one of the most significant post-war Italian directors, renowned for his politically and socially critical cinema. His career was characterized by a sharp critique of power dynamics, authoritarianism, and individual alienation.

His style, often grotesque, satirical, and at times surrealist, lucidly analyzed social deviances and the contradictions of the bourgeois and political system. Among his most important films are:

* ***Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion*** (1970): Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, it is an incisive denunciation of the impunity of power and the authoritarian psyche, starring Gian Maria Volonté.
* ***The Working Class Goes to Heaven*** (1971): Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, a bitter and lucid reflection on the world of work and worker exploitation.

Other significant works include *We Still Kill the Old Way* (1967) and *Todo Modo* (1976), often featuring actors emblematic of his cinema, such as Volonté and Ugo Tognazzi. Petri is remembered as a master of committed cinema, capable of combining intellectual depth with keen psychological observation.