Das Geständnis eines Polizeikommissars vor dem Staatsanwalt der Republik

Best known for his mafia films as well as the sublime Western "A Bullet for the General" (1968), Damiano Damiani doubtlessly ranks among the great directors from the golden era of Italian genre-cinema. And "Confessione Di Un Commissario Di Polizia Al Procuratore Della Republica" aka. "Confession of a Police Comissioner to the District Attorney" of 1971 is doubtlessly one of the man's most remarkable achievements. Unlike the work of other greats of Italian crime/police cinema, such as Fernando Di Leo and Umberto Lenzi, Damiani's mafia films do not so much rely on stylized action and gritty violence, but try to explore the structures of the mafia and the corruption of legal authorities. This gem does so in a most brilliant manner.

Every cult-cinema fan's favorite actor Franco Nero plays a young and idealistic prosecutor who is as determined in his will to fight crime and corruption as his firm belief in the law and justice system is unbreakable. When he comes to crime-stronghold Palermo he encounters the aging Police Detective Comissario Buonavia (Martin Balsam), a cop whose ideals and beliefs go beyond his obedience to the law... The film has many qualities, one of the most obvious ones being the acting. Both leading men are nothing short of brilliance in their roles. Franco Nero is magnificent as ever in the role of the devoted man of the law, and Martin Balsam truly shines as the equally idealistic, rough-and-ready cop. Both men seem to be strict followers of their ideals, doing what they believe is right. Yet, there is a mutual distrust between them. The great late Luciano Catenacci is sublime in the role of the slick Mafia Don. Catenacci, one of the greatest regulars in Italian cult-cinema blessed many great films with his presence, including Mario Bava's Gothic masterpiece "Operazione Paura" ("Kill Baby... Kill!", 1966), Umberto Lenzi's hard-boiled Poliziottesco "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" ("Almost Human", 1974), and this great film. Sadly, this great actor, who mostly played criminals, passed away far too young in 1990. Lovers of Italian cinema will always remember him for his great performances in mostly dubious or thuggish roles. Character actor Claudio Gora gives another memorable performance as the district attorney general.

"Confessione Di Un Commissario..." is a film with a great story, and the tense plot is perfectly executed. As most of Damiani's films, "Confessione..." is a very political film that uncompromisingly depicts power-structures, corruption and the influence of organized crime on politicians and institutions. But primarily, it is a very suspenseful and highly intense cinematic experience. The tension is underlined by a great visual style and insanely brilliant score by maestro Riz Ortolani. Among fans of Italian crime cinema, some prefer the testosterone-driven excitement of the work of Umberto Lenzi or Enzo Castellari while others love the more intellectual thrills of Damiano Damiani's gems. Personally, I can only say that I'm a huge fan of both. "Confessions of a Police Comissioner..." is a film that should appeal to fans of gritty cult cinema and lovers of subtle suspense alike, and, personally, I could not come up with a single negative aspect about this film, which enjoys a more than justified cult-status. A masterpiece. For fans of Italian genre-cinema, missing it would be a crime.

I'm a big fan of Italian cop flicks, but Confessions of a Police Captain actually doesn't contain many of the things that I love this type of movie for. Damiano Damiani's film is an early example of the Polizi flick and has the rare accolade of not following on the heels of Don Siegel's masterpiece Dirty Harry. The film is a rather more sober affair than what I'm used to from this sort of film and doesn't feature the things such as car chases, gun fights and fistfights that other films in this genre feature in droves; but this is made up for by the fact that the director has created a stylish and interesting film that flows well throughout. The plot focuses largely on the mafia that run Italy over and above the law. Our two central characters are Commissioner Bonavia and District Attorney Traini who are investigating mafia occurrences in the city. The plot begins with an attempt on a man's life, and the man later turns out to be D'Ambrosio; a man high up within the mafia. The two law enforcers appear to be on the same page in fighting the crime in the city...

Damiano Damiani was apparently quite a prolific crime film director in the seventies; although the only film I'd seen from him prior to this one was the abysmal Amityville II. It's clear that he has a real flair for this sort of film, however, as Confessions of a Police Captain is perfectly pitched and very professionally done. The fact that the film doesn't feature the things that usually make these films exciting may be a hindrance for some people, but in my opinion; the film has more than enough going for it elsewhere. The two central performances are one of the film's strongest elements. American actor Martin Balsam is fantastic as the police commissioner, but even better than him is Franco Nero as the district attorney. I've seen a lot of Franco Nero films and every time I see him, I become more impressed. He's a very versatile actor who seems to be able to play just about any role and once again he gives a fantastic lead performance. The commentary on justice is well thought, although I have to admit that I wasn't keen on the ambiguous ending. Overall, this is at the very top of Italian cop flicks; while it doesn't fit in with some of the better known examples, it's hard to deny that it is a gem of a movie.

Political thriller by Damiano Damiani (BULLET FOR THE GENERAL, HOW TO KILL A JUDGE) that creates a world so vivid that every time I watch it, I forget Franco Nero didn't dub his own voice. The opening scene takes place in a Sicilian mad house, hundreds of years old, fortified with decaying stone. It is here that we first hear Riz Ortolani's amazing theme, a fuzz-tone guitar and a melancholy orchestra, and the ranting and moans of madmen. We see Captain Bonavia (Martin Balsam, who did dub his own voice) arrange for the release of LiPuma, a psychotic criminal obsessed with cleanliness who is no sooner free than he makes an attempt on the life of a gangster named D'Ambrosio, which results in the deaths of Lipuma and several of D'Ambrosio's thugs, but not D'Ambrosio. It is immediately hinted that Bonavia arranged for LiPuma's release for just this reason. The mystery here isn't who did what, but why he did it, and who you're supposed to root for: Captain Bonavia, the official made cynical and allegedly irresponsible by years on the job, who may or may not be motivated by graft, or DA Traini (Franco Nero), who investigates the attempt on D'Ambrosio's life. Traini is young and idealistic and immediately suspects Bonavia's involvement. Bonavia is fifty going on a hundred and mocks Traini at every turn as he fills him in on the history of a city built, literally, on corpses. Damiani underlines the similarities between these two men--does Traini embody the idealism Bonavia lost, are they both just stooges of a corrupt, ancient system--in subtle ways, and he, along with Balsam, builds Bonavia's character with equal aplomb. You can watch this film repeatedly and see these subtleties, equal credit for which must go to Balsam's performance, which is one of his best, which is saying a lot. Minor characters, like LiPuma and his hunted sister, Serena, come across with enough depth to exacerbate the tension. Riz Ortolani's score chimes in at just the right moments to intensify the drama, which is what this really is, a drama that grabs you by the guts. Damiani's ability to create this kind of film, angry and topical, anti-establishment, but so lived-in, it never feels forced, deserves greater recognition. This one, especially, should be required viewing, despite the fact that I've never seen it in any form other than a cheesy DVD that probably capitalized on public domain and is dubbed (it should be noted that the Italians dubbed most of their films, even the Italian versions, and were good at it) and has glitches that lead me to believe it was mastered from VHS. Don't avoid; the integrity of the film survives.

This uncompromising look at power and corruption is fascinating. Although I had never heard of the film, the combination of cast, director, and subject matter piqued my curiosity, so I purchased a copy. I am glad I did. While this film is certainly not the most pleasant thing to watch, it does provide a daring insight into the corrupt world of crooked cops on the take and a mafia-controlled system which is frank and disturbing, and must have really been a shock to audiences in 1971. Fine performances and unflinching direction make this movie one which fans of the crime/cop-movie genre will not want to miss.

It's ironic that director Damiano Damiani is most famous today for "The Amityville Horror 2", which is somewhat underrated, but no one's idea of a great movie. He has actually made any number of films in many different genres, including at least four superlative ones I've seen in just the last year: "A Bullet for the General", "The Most Beautiful Wife", "How to Kill a Judge" and this one. This is a typical Italian police thriller in some ways, but rather than focusing solely on shoot-outs and high-speed car chases, it is more of a character study of two law enforcement agents, trying to do the right thing while fighting massive high-level corruption, but in very different ways. Martin Balsam is a the titular police captain who is willing to bend the law to go after a corrupt industrial cartel leader. For instance, he gets a sworn enemy of the man and the brother of the man's mistress released from a mental institution to allow him make an assassination attempt on the crooked industrialist. Franco Nero, on the other hand, plays the by-the-book district attorney who's torn between fighting the "corruption" of the police captain and the far more pervasive high-level corruption all around him. The two eventually form an uneasy alliance.

An American film would definitely come down in favor of one man or the other (most likely the vigilante police captain), but this film is not afraid to leave the whole matter morally ambiguous. It is also pretty pessimistic in tone, as things don't work out too well for either of them. Balsam and Nero are both great (the latter was also in Damiano's "How to Kill a Judge"). Marilu Tolo (who plays the mistress) is the only other real name actor. She was kind of an enigmatic actress, probably the most Sicilian-looking actress of her era (it's hard to believe she and the blonde-haired, blue-eyed Nero are from the same country). She has a much smaller role than the two men, but still manages to transcend the usual "nice piece" mold women were usually cast in in these types of films.

Unfortunately, this is currently available only as a VERY crappy-looking public domain flick on "The Grindhouse Collection Volume 1" DVD set. (The most low-rent bootlegger would be ashamed to sell a customer a DVD-R of a video in as bad of shape and as badly ported as this one). Still if you think the price is right on the whole set or you find it from another source, this is definitely a movie I would recommend to poliziani fans or anybody else.