Milano trema: la polizia vuole giustizia

So far I've seen five of these 70's Italian crime thrillers, 3 of them being straight up, Don Siegel and William Friedkin-influenced "cop on the edge with an axe to grind" Dirty Harry rip-offs. Out of those three, all of which are great, this has got to be the one with the coolest story-line (the other two being "High Crime" and "Violent Naples," to give you an idea of the standard here). While it is neither perfect nor entirely realistic, it is action-packed, bloody and riveting, a cocktail of elements common to the genre. And this particular "cop-on-the-edge," played by Luc Merenda, is so on-the-edge that he "poses" as a pimp muscling in on prostitution rackets with the facility of an old pro, gets innocent bystanders killed without hardly batting an eye, and cold-bloodedly executes surrendering criminals in front of the entire police department!

While he lacks quite the level of charisma and intensity delivered by Franco Nero or Maurizio Merli, Merenda holds his own. The primary reason he is able to do so here (the two secondary are Sergio Martino's competence in directing pulse-pounding action and the fact that the extremity I've come to expect from these films is as present here as anywhere) is the sucker-punch, no, make that downright subversive plot-line. Without giving too much away, suffice it to say that what appears to be shaping up into a slanted portrayal of fanatical domestic terrorists (not that groups like the Red Brigade need any slanting to look bad, just that dishonesty bugs me even if it's on the right side) proves later to be something entirely different. The ending of this film, while it would be typical in another context, blew me away.

To top it off, you've got a killer score by the mad De Angelis brothers (if you've seen "Keoma," note that it helps that the only song with words isn't translated into English), and the only fatal car crash I've ever seen in an action movie where the car doesn't inexplicably burst into flames. Three cheers for this gleefully brutal mayhem-fest with the added plus of an intelligent plot!

Many of the best Giallo directors tried their hand at the Dirty Harry-inspired Polizi sub-genre at some point, and The Violent Professionals is Sergio Martino's classy effort. The film isn't as good as Martino's Giallo efforts (few films are), but it still stands up as one of the better Polizi films. Martino packs the film with all the elements that make this sort of thing successful; we've got car chases, gun fights, fist fights, a headstrong lead character etc. Unfortunately, despite working from a script by ace writer Ernesto Gastaldi, The Violent Professionals does suffer from the classic Italian film problem of a confusing plot. The plot follows the murder of a police chief. Lieutenant Giorga doesn't take this very well, and decides to follow up the chief's investigation by going undercover in a local gang of low lives. His plan is to build up enough of a reputation for himself that will enable him to get close to the leaders of the group and learn their secrets; but this foolhardy plan runs into a lot of adversity...

Like many Italian crime flicks, this one takes place in Milan. I've never been to Milan, but I'm guessing that it was one hell of a sleaze den back in the seventies as these films don't exactly paint a pretty picture! Sergio Martino does well at presenting a gritty urban atmosphere, and this hugely benefits the film. Martino's direction is solid throughout, and he can certainly take his place as one of the finest directors that Italy ever produced. Even when I wasn't completely sure what was going on, Martino keeps the tension bubbling and the film ticks over nicely all the way through. The standout moment takes the form of a car chase through the streets of Milan, and cinematic chases have rarely been better. The acting is strong also, and the film features a brilliant performance from Luc Merenda in the lead role, as well as film noir regular Richard Conte in support. The film lacks a good female lead, but other than that it pretty does everything you would want it to. Overall, The Violent Professionals isn't the best film of its type - but it's certainly a good one and gets high recommendations from me.

Renowned genre maestro, Sergio Martino's aptly monikered, 'Violent Professionals' is another uproariously entertaining, ball-bustingly bellicose poliziotteschi classic that is frequently praised on a goodly number of Euro-crime threads, and its lofty position in rabid poliziotteschi fan's hearts is well deserved. 'Violent Professionals' undiminished ability to attract a multitude of Euro-cult fans is certainly due in no small part to the exciting 70s actioner's colourful celebration of gratuitous violence, and bravura ballistic carnage that adds so much pep to the exhilaratingly diverse exploitation oeuvre of gonzo director, Sergio Martino.

This appetizingly blunt, snub-nosed poliziotteschi comes replete with all the bloodthirsty thug-trashing bacchanalia to make it a resounding keeper!!! Granted, Luc 'smart hair of death' Merenda lacked the hypertensive, barbarian machismo of, Nero & Merli, he nonetheless cuts a beguilingly svelte figure amongst all the supercharged vehicular slaughter! Euro-crime's most debonair deadbeat-dropper, Luc Merenda, always manages to emerge from dutifully disseminating balaclava-clad thugs with his enviably coiffed thatch of lustrous hair immaculately intact! For me, dangerously dishy, Luc Merenda will ALWAYS remain the suavest-looking of the Poliziotteschi douchebag destroyers, a delectably dapper vendor of death, Euro-Crime's deadliest fashionista!!! Even as one of the most avid, Maurizio Merli freaks, Sergio Martino's muscular 70s Euro-crime thriller, 'Violent Professionals' ranks strongly against the very best by, Umberto Lenzi or, Stelvio Massi!

MILANO TREMA boasts some nice Milan location work and some very well-handled action sequences by Sergio Martino. The proceedings however get a little bogged down with a few too many subplots, unlikable characters, and lots and lots of talking about politics. Ernesto Gastaldi was one of the best of Italy's genre movie screenwriters, always able to inject some realism and dimensionality even into the small bit players. There's even some successful intentional humor, particularly during Luc Merenda's successful infiltration of a bank heist racket even though he's (a former?) chief of police.

The car chases in this film really take the cake though as some of the best of the genre, and quite early in the cycle too. Footage from the chases popped up in numerous other crime films, particularly Umberto Lenzi's. Also, a lot of the same henchmen would pop up in film to film from here on out. While at first I was irked that the two bumbling goons (Claudio Ruffini and Sergio Smacchi) who get tasked with tailing Merenda around just disappear without any resolution, I was delighted to see teamed again (possibly as the same characters?) in such films as THE CYNIC THE RAT AND THE FIST.

Granted, the success of this film, along with HIGH CRIME led to an explosion of Italian crime movies over the rest of the decade. The two films share much in common including featuring a fisticuffs- loving inspector using extreme methods to rid his city of crime to the tune of Guido and Maurizio De Angelis music. Oh yes, and Silvano Tranquilli appears in both, though his character here much less intimidating.

After his mentor, the only cop who is both honest and "by-the-book" in this movie (and possibly any other Italian "poliziani"), is assassinated in the street, a rogue cop, who has been suspended for gunning down two surrendering suspects, goes undercover, mixing with prostitutes, pimps, and reckless, amateur bank robbers in an effort to crack the case; only to find that it involves both Red Brigade terrorists and corruption at the highest levels of Italian government. It is easy to write-off this and other Italian polizianis as cheap "rip-offs" of American films like "Dirty Harry" or "The French Connection". But this genre really resonated in Italy which was even more beset by rampant crime, high-level corruption, and would-be "revolutionaries" in 1970's than America was. And whereas American police thrillers got dumber, more simplistic, and sometimes downright fascist going into the Reagan era (i.e. "Make my day!", "Crime is a disease and he is the cure!"), the Italian films went off in a decidedly more morally ambiguous and often more cynical direction, which I personally find much more interesting. (It's perhaps understandable that America would later blunder into Iraq, convinced that they were the unambiguous "good guys" and weren't going to get any blood on their white cowboy hats, while the Europeans were generally much more wary and realistic).

This movie is pretty confused. It's pretty hard to believe that corrupt law enforcement officials would be connected to the radical Marxist Red Brigades and vice versa. It's also hard to separate the "rogue cop" here from the regular Italian police, who also shoot unarmed suspects and kill innocent hostages in reckless high-speed car chases. (One villain makes the mistake of trying to ally himself with hero, naturally assuming that anyone so violent and unconcerned the law or public safety would be a natural partner in corruption).Still it is more realistic and honest in many ways to admit that fighting violence with violence, even it doesn't outright corrupt, is very messy and will leave you with hands that are far from clean. "Dirty Harry" and "The French Connection" themselves were much more noirish and morally ambiguous than is acknowledged these days. But what this movie really reminded me of was the first Dirty Harry sequel "Magnum Force" where the troubled vigilante cop with some morals faces off against vigilante cops with no morals (and who also turn out to be very implausibly connected to his most liberal critics). Like that movie this poliziani is pretty confused, but, at the same time, all the more honest for it.

It's also well-made and very entertaining. It was directed by the great, and still underrated Italian director, Sergio Martino. It's currently only available on cheap DVD (part of "The Grindhouse Collection Volume 1") ported from a very messed-up videotape (the sound is atrocious). Still I would highly recommend it.