Il Giorno Della Civetta (aka The Day Of The Owl) (1968)

Set in a small Sicilian village, a Carabinieri chief (Franco Nero) investigates the murder of a truck driver but the code of silence instigated by the Mafia has a hold on the town and no one is willing to talk. Based on the novel by Leonardo Sciascia and directed by Damiano Damiani (HOW TO KILL A JUDGE). This is an excellent crime drama (released in the U.S. under the title MAFIA). It's an intense movie that vividly portrays the iron clad hold the Mafia has on districts where their very presence intimidates the populace into a silent complicity. Franco Nero and Claudia Cardinale (as the wife of a murder victim) both won the David Di Donatello award (the Italian Oscar) for their work here and the film won best picture. The movie works as both a crime thriller and as a social statement on the grip of the Mafia and the implication of government collusion. The film opts for a realistic downbeat ending. With Lee J. Cobb, Nehemiah Persoff, Serge Reggiani and Tano Cimarosa.