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I'm looking for a black and white Italian movie that I saw a while back during an Italian film fest in Munich.

Here are the few plot details I remember:

  • The story has a surreal/fantastic plot, that involves a murder happening in a movie theatre full of spectators watching a Western movie (I think).
  • During the movie screening one of the spectators gets shot. The movie theatre gets put on lock-down, and spectators are interviewed individually by a team (or a single) detective(s). As the detective(s) interview key suspects, their diverse backgrounds and characters are developed.
  • In an attempt to shed light onto how the crime happened, the detective(s) suggest re-enacting the movie screening. Spectators take their seats, the Western movie restarts, and at the exact time when the first murder happened, another shot is heard resulting in yet another death.

I'm not exactly sure how the plot progressed from there, but the surreal/fantastical ending involved the discovery that one of the Western movie characters had fired the shot, into the audience, thereby killing the two spectators.

Some technical details: It was an old black and white movie in Italian with English subtitles.

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  • Hmm. I seem to recall a similar question somewhere else. Not sure it got an answer. – Paulie_D Jul 25 '18 at 13:36
  • This seems a little familiar -- don't recall a title, but it sounds like something Frederico Fellini might have perpetrated. – Zeiss Ikon Jul 25 '18 at 13:41
  • @ZeissIkon I'm not sure about Fellini. If so perhaps one of his earlier films. I think the plot/movie was set sometime in the 60s. It was an impressive movie, with a strong eerie and surreal atmosphere. – Maurits Evers Jul 25 '18 at 13:48
  • @Paulie_D If you do recall a similar/earlier question, please share the link. I'm quite vague on some parts of the plot, so any further clues would help. – Maurits Evers Jul 25 '18 at 13:49
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    Aw, I was thinking this was about a B-movie theater gimmick where there was a plant in the actual audience who got "shot". – 1006a Jul 25 '18 at 19:12
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This is the 1978 Closed Circuit directed by Giuliano Montaldo, originally released as Circuito chiuso. The synopsis on IMDb describes the premise:

A man is shot dead in his seat during a matinee screening of a Giuliano Gemma Spaghetti Western, prompting the police to close off the cinema in an attempt to gather evidence.

^_^ One of those times where I got frustrated and just typed in a full question into Google and got an answer, italian film audience member shot by character in a western.

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  • I'm not sure whether it's allowed here to link to a full movie on YouTube (even a foreign one)... – V2Blast Jul 25 '18 at 20:49
  • Trailers are preferred, but mainly because they stick around longer. – FuzzyBoots Jul 25 '18 at 20:51
  • I did come across this relevant discussion on meta: Youtube usage policy – V2Blast Jul 25 '18 at 21:11
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    I haven't been able to find a trailer. Link removed. – FuzzyBoots Jul 25 '18 at 21:34

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