La Classe Operaia Va In Paradiso (aka The Working Class Goes To Heaven) (1971)

A factory worker (Gian Maria Volonte) is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Overworked, he has an accident that temporarily disables him. This incident is just the beginning of his journey from a tool of his capitalist bosses to a radical revolutionary. Co-written and directed by Elio Petri (INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION), this is a politically charged left leaning look at an ordinary, non political factory worker who realizes how powerless he is, a cog in the capitalist machinery which sucks him in and spits him out. Volonte's character seems batty right from the beginning so we're unable to decipher specifically when the breakdown started. Its narrative is often caustic and heavy and our ability to comprehend Petri's motives or Volonte's allegiances gets muddled. Potent but perhaps too grating to be fully effective. The score is by Ennio Morricone. With Mariangela Melato and Salvo Randone.