Post by pimpinainteasy on Jan 14, 2019 3:56:02 GMT
my third DAMIANO DAMIANI film (i had watched THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WIFE and I AM AFRAID before this). it is a bleak italian crime drama. commissioner bonavia (a really tough as nails MARTIN BALSAM) arrives at a mental institution and helps free a patient. a few days after his release, the patient tries to kill a famous builder but the builder's henchmen are already waiting for him and a bloody shootout ensues. deputy distric attorney traini (franco nero) investigates the shootout and feels that commissioner bonavia is not telling him the whole truth. his investigations lead him into the corrupt world of the italian building mafia. i liked how the film is built up with commisioner bonavia as the villain but there is a twist at the end and it turns out that bonavia is actually a cynical guy who is tired of bringing the mafia to book using legal means. so he tries to destroy them through his own methods. after he murders the builder himself, he ends up in jail. there is a great scene in jail when he is stabbed and he barely makes it into a prison movie screening and everyone ignores him because they are all laughing at the comedy film on screen while a man dies in their midst.
the film could have been a lot leaner if some of the sub plots had been avoided. there is one involving the sister (the beautiful MARILU TOLO used as a sex object) of the mental patient. it is a film where you have to pay close attention to understand what is really going on.
the fantastic fatalistic background score by riz ortolani full of melodic electronic guitar and violins, is put to great use. i had watched BALSAM as a gay man in THE ANDERSON TAPES and he is terrific in this film. apparently the role was first offered to BEN GAZZARA. this film is as bleak as I AM AFRAID in its depiction of the corruption in the italian justice system.
(7/10)