Milano calibro 9

Like The Italian Connection, this Fernando Di Leo film features Mario Adorf. It also features Barbara Bouchet (Gangs of New York), who left the States in the 70s to do Italian films. She jumped from Police films, to giallo, to erotica. Always a pleasure to watch.

This is a typical double cross film with a missing $300,000. Who took the money? Who will end up with the money? Who will double cross whom? The police just sit back and let the mafia, led by the Americano (Lionel Stander) tear each other apart.

Lots of fights, a big shootout, and some fine performances by Adorf, and Gastone Moschin

An ex-con attempts to go straight but cannot escape the influence of his old crime bosses. Underpinning everything is the matter of a missing $300,000 that he is under suspicion of stealing. The mob and the police want him to reveal all, while he protests his innocence.

Milan Calibre 9 is one of crime specialist director Fernando Di Leo's most famous movies. He was probably the best director in the Italian poliziotteschi and is responsible for several other classics of that sub-genre, such as The Boss and The Italian Connection. Like those, this one is also a fast paced, tough and violent flick with some excellently staged action scenes. The big shoot-out at the outdoor garden party stands out as an example of the latter. But mainly the story is driven more by interesting characters and a fairly complex plot with several twists and turns.

The Milan setting itself is used well, with a good sense of place. Unlike the other Italian thriller genre of the 70's, the giallo, the poliziotteschi were virtually all set in Italy itself. Many, like this one, featured the city in question in their title. They were more realistic than their more stylised gialli counterparts and I guess they connected with their audience in a slightly different way in that they provided thrills along with observations about contemporary crime concerns. Milan Calibre 9 like other Di Leo crime films has some such social commentary. The corruption in the justice system and the degradation of the mafia are subjects that are touched upon.

It benefits from a very strong cast. Mario Adorf is in his element as the sadistic gangster Rocco, he owns every scene he is in. Barbara Bouchet is as exquisite as always, she plays a night-club dancer who is introduced to us in a mouth-wateringly erotic dance routine. Lionel Standler is very convincing in the role of the sinister crime boss The Americano; while the two cops are played by reliable Italian genre film regulars Luigi Pistilli and Frank Wolff.

All in all, this is a quality action-thriller that remains relatively obscure. It's a very good example of what the Italian crime movie was all about.

This is an undeservedly little-known gangster movie. The story resolves around the traditionally motive of loyalty, betrayal, and the strange moral code of the Mafia (in Italy), but we are never quite sure what ending the story is going for. The film keeps up the pace nicely throughout and the excellent doubly-twisted ending comes as a total surprise.

Gastone Moschin is very good in the lead as the apparent excon and victim of the Mafia's attention, but the acting prize goes to Mario Adorf's Mafia Lieutenant. He also has the best line, right at the end - which I cannot give away as it would spoil the suspense.

Milano Calibro 9/Milan Calibre 9(1972) contains a fast paced tightly edited prologue that is done with brilliance. The opening five minutes are both brutal and sadistic. Rocco played by Mario Adorf is introduced in the prologue as a psychotic mafia hood. The prologue is an example of setting up mood and story for the film.

Mario Adorf gives a performance that brings to mind Joe Pesce in Goodfellas(1990) and Casino(1995), Takeshi Kitano in Boiling Point(1990), and Lee Marvin in The Big Heat(1953). He is excellent as the mafia hood with a sadistic streak. Mario Adorf plays his character with unbelievable and vicious conviction. His performance is one of the best acting jobs from the film.

This movie along with La Mala Ordina/Hired to Kill(1973) and Il Boss/The Boss(1973) makes Fernando Di Leo the Italian eqivulent of Jean Pierre Melville. Fernando Di Leo is influenced by Melville in many aspects. Milan Calibre 9(1972) reminds me of Le Doulos(1961) with their use of anti heroes. One of many films that Jean Pierre Melville made an impression on.

Has a double plot twist which is utilized in cleaver and unpredictable fashion. I was surprised by the first plot revealing twist. I was convincing stunned by the second plot revealing twist which was much more unexpected. The double plot twist is one characteristic that makes the film special.

Fernando Di Leo stands out in the gangster craze of Italian cinema in the same way that Sergio Leone stood out as a master of Italian Westerns, Dario Argento as a master of Giallos, and Lucio Fulci as a master of Italian Zombie pics. He brings out a direction full of passion and spunk. The director films the violent scenes with panache and piazzazz. An underrated filmmaker in Italian cinema.

Soundtrack of Milan Calibre Nine is awesome and cool. Luis Enriquez Bacalov is excellent at performing music for Italian Crime and Western motion pictures. The Police are depicted in a cynical and unsympathetic light. The only Police officer who comes out in a sympathetic tone is Fonzino who's only in the movie for a few minutes.

The major action sequence in Milan Calibre 9(1972) prefigures John Woo. What's so twisted about the end of the motion picture is its Rocco whose the most trust worthy person in the entire story. Gastone Moschin gives a gripping performance as a man who cannot escape his tragic fate. Some wonderful performances are handed out by Barbara Bouchet, Philippe Leroy, and Lionel Stander.

The scene where Nelly Bordon played by Barbara Bouchet is doing an erotic dance is filmed with multiple camera angles. An sensual introduction to the character of Barbara Bouchet. The editing in this one scene is good and imaginative. Barbara Bouchet is definitely one of the beautiful women from the 1970s when one sees Milan Calibre 9(1972).

An example of the growing popularity of the gangster movie in Italy. Milan Calibre 9(1972) is in my opinion belongs among the top ten of Italian gangster pictures. The Godfather(1972) may have influenced the gangster film in Italy during the 1970s, but Milano Calibro 9(1972) takes on a life of its own. I've was very impressed by Milano Calibro 9(1972) that I've taken an interest in other films from this genre and decade in Italian cinema.

Provided many influences and inspirations for filmography of Quentin Tarantino. His portrayal of tough guys in his films takes a page out of Milan Calibre 9 as well as other mafia features by Fernando Di Leo. The sadistic violence and unpredictable plot twists can be seen in Resevoir Dogs(1992) and Pulp Fiction(1994). No one filmmaker has influenced Tarantino more frequently besides Jean Pierre Melville than Fernando Di Leo.

Crime novels can be rather dull sometimes, but everyone will agree that some are simply excellent - suspenseful, totally unpredictable and with numerous plot twists. This film is apparently based upon one of the excellent ones. Both silly and intelligent viewers will be kept on the edge of their seat until the very ending, which by the way has an unforgettable quote. When a plot like this is coupled with terrific acting and world-class visuals and music -- the result has to be good.

Those sympathetic to early seventies fashion and music are in for a real treat. Osanna/Bacalov's music is totally uncompromising and - in my honest opinion - worth a hundred times the entrance money in its own right. This may be the best soundtrack ever! The visuals are also astonishing - timeless in their beauty, but still with a strong flavour of early 70s. And you'll also catch some glimpses of what must be the world's most beautiful woman.

In sum, all this simply makes up a classic. NOT TO BE MISSED!

(Those who already own the soundtrack, which actually seems easier to find than the movie, should be advised that the movie has alternate versions, all brilliant).