The Traffic Policeman

Otello, a war veteran, is unemployed and living with his family in a small Latium town. He stubbornly refuses a menial job at the market, insisting on a role that recognizes his service. By leveraging his veteran status, he pressures the Mayor to hire him as a local traffic policeman. He begins to dream of dignity and steadiness, albeit with some arrogance.

Otello secures the role with the town's traffic police; he performs poorly in duties but uses his position to mete out petty punishments to those who teased him during unemployment. His badge becomes a tool for quick, vindictive justice rather than public service. The line between authority and grievance blurs as he relishes small power.

During a routine patrol, Otello helps famous actress Sylva Koscina with car trouble and chats amiably. He invites her for coffee and chooses not to fine her for missing documents, blurring professional boundaries with a celebrity encounter.

That night, Sylva appears on the televised program Il Musichiere and publicly greets Otello. At the host's insistence, she reveals how Otello let her go when he should have fined or arrested her, exposing a weakness in his public image. The moment tightens the political stakes around his role.

Under political pressure, the Mayor berates Otello for tarnishing the police force’s image and threatens to fire him. Otello’s pride is bruised as he realizes his actions have real consequences beyond the badge.

Otello spots the Mayor speeding on a dangerous curve and pursues him. He issues a speeding ticket, which inadvertently exposes the Mayor’s extramarital affair. This act marks Otello as a political threat and a danger to corrupt power.

Enraged by the ticket and public exposure, the Mayor suspends Otello and arranges an appeal of the fine. The move signals a shift into formal political maneuvering to sidelined Otello.

Seeking to counter the Mayor’s influence, Otello aligns with local monarchists who nominate him as their candidate for the upcoming mayoral election. The alliance moves Otello from street-level conflict into strategic political play.

In a private meeting with the Mayor’s party members, Otello threatens to expose years of mismanagement by the administration. The Mayor responds by presenting compromising information about Otello’s family and past, including his sister’s alleged work and his unresolved marriage. The revelation intensifies the stakes of the upcoming appeal.

At the next day’s appeal, Otello relents and exonerates the Mayor, asserting the fine was due to a faulty odometer reading. He withdraws his candidacy, yielding to political pressure and ending his bid for office for the time being.

Some time after he is reinstated as a traffic policeman, Otello is shown making way for the Mayor as he speeds once again along the same curve. This scene tests whether justice can be restored through subtle acts rather than open confrontation.

The Mayor accelerates on the curve and crashes his car, ending up hospitalized. The event serves as poetic justice for Otello and a stark culmination of the power struggle between them.