Hands Over the City

Hands Over the City (Le mani sulla città, 1963) is Francesco Rosi's political drama starring Rod Steiger, and you can watch it online on iFILM. On the eve of a Naples council election, an apartment block caves in — burying not just concrete but the standing of an entire ruling bloc.

Steiger plays property developer Edoardo Nottola, a councilman and speculator rolled into one, who buys up land, pushes the right votes through the chamber and skims a profit off every square meter. The collapse hands his rivals an opening for an inquiry. What follows isn't a whodunit but a cold dissection of how votes, contracts and council seats get traded behind closed doors.

Rosi shot it straight off the back of real building scandals, and the film carried the Golden Lion home from Venice. The tone runs almost documentary — barely any score, just argument after argument in council halls and tight shots of bureaucrats' faces. One for viewers who like their politics shown without illusions and without a hero to trust. Stream Hands Over the City (1963) online on iFILM.