Milano calibro 9
Gaston Moschin plays Ugo Piazza, a low level crook just released after serving time for a botched Robbery. He's soon approached by an old Friend Rocco played by Fernando Di Leo regular Mario Adorf. Rocco's working for the biggest gangster in Milan, the American. The American has a nasty reputation and believes Ugo has run off with $300,000 of his money. The police also seem to believe this, thinking his botched robbery was botched on purpose. Even his old flame Nelly, played by Barbara Bouchet thinks he stole it. However Ugo is adamant that he hasn't and is desperate to persuade everyone he's reformed and looking to go straight.
A damned fine crime drama from one of the best creative forces in Italian cinema and a genuine king of the Poliziotteschi. Milano Calibro is widely considered his best film. Less 'pulpy' than a lot of other crime films being produced, Caliber 9 comes early in the cycle at 1972. Essentially replacing the Spaghetti western, which while not quite dead had already had a good run (Di Leo had written a lot of westerns at this point, including uncredited work on the first two Dollars movies) the crime movie took a lot of the amorality and violence of the western and transposed it into contemporary Italy, much like Dirty Harry did with the American Western. The beauty of the film comes from the well rounded characters, the films cynical attitude to relationships and the darker sides of human nature, as well as a twist that reveals the film to be a magnificent slice of cinematic poker face with its audience. Also worth noting is the crisp dialogue that actually seems to translate well and injects some social commentary and politics into the mix. Also Luis Enrique Bacalovs marvellous score which is genuinely incredible so I'm linking here....
The Italian connection.
Mario Adorf returns here playing low level pimp Luca Canali. A large shipment of Heroin goes missing and Don Vito Tressoldi decides to pin it on Luca. The American side of the operation sends two hitmen, Frank played by Woody strode and David played by Eurocrime stalwart Henry Silva. The two men are dispatched to Italy to find Luca and act as American as possible to make an example of Luca and warn others not to mess with them. A brutal game of cat and mouse between Luca and the American's ensues with a terrified Luca genuinely not knowing why his life is being gradually destroyed piece by piece.
Not as good Caliber 9, though still a damn fine movie. It seems to remove a lot of the politics and characterisation of the previous film in favour of more action. It essentially feels like a really good version of the sort of films pretty much every Poliziotteschi would become. Di Leo handles action perfectly and the film is thoroughly entertaining from beginning to end.
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