David RINALDI

Director of Studies and Policy

Hands over the city
Movie by Francesco Rosi, 1963

“How much does a square metre of land cost here today? €300? €500? But tomorrow, this same square metre may be worth €60,000 or €70,000, or even more. That’s 5,000 per cent profit. What can give you this today? Trade or industry? (…) Invest your money in a factory, then with unions’ demands, strikes, health and social insurance, all these things will give you a heart attack. But instead, with real estate, no worries, no risks, only profit. We just have to make sure that the municipality brings roads, water, gas and electricity here”. 

If you thought these words were the opening lines of a contemporary movie denouncing modern urban development, you would be forgiven. But no, this is 1963, and it is Francesco Rosi’s classic Le mani sulla città (Hands over the city). Just… the currency was intentionally changed.

Set in post-war Naples, this socio-political drama delves into the murky depths of real estate speculation and corruption. It depicts the interconnection between politics and the real estate grid, and shows the evil of unchecked capitalism. The film follows the unscrupulous property developer Edoardo Nottola, masterfully portrayed by Rod Steiger, whose ambition to make money is matched only by his disregard for ethics and the human cost of his actions. His machinations, underpinned by political collusion and amorality, reveal a city on the brink of moral collapse. He leads the creation of a new centrist party to preserve his influence on zoning laws and urbanism. This anti-hero incarnates a local politician’s worst features: zero respect for the public good and the public sector, which are only means to more speculation.

The film is raw, the dialogues are sharp, the characters are vividly drawn, and the stakes palpably high. Rosi indulges in documentary-like realism. In fact, he did actually consider making a documentary to denounce a reality he saw first-hand. However, fearing censorship, as many of the political protagonists were still in charge at the time of filming, he opted for a fictional movie. A final explanatory note clarifies that the connection between local politics and greedy real estate developers is no fiction. To blur the line between fiction and reality even further, Rosi included some real-life journalists in the cast, and a communist senator and trade unionist played the part of the good ones. 

‘Hands over the city’ is a narrative about one man’s greed, and an indictment of systemic corruption. Today, it invites viewers to reflect on their own urban and political environments, and it resonates with a world facing similar issues of gentrification, displacement and political complicity. 

If you feel particularly jaded about the state of modern urban development, take a trip back to 1963. You will find that, all too often, the more things change, the more they stay the same – and this will likely always be the case until we can really start controlling capitalism and prevent it from controlling our decision-making.