Die Gewalt bin ich

The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist clearly takes influence regarding it's central theme from the Sergio Leone masterpiece 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', and here we follow the fortunes of three strong male characters as their lives intertwine in the name of crime. Director Umberto Lenzi plied his trade in a number of Italy's most popular genres, and his resume includes the likes of zombies, cannibals and Giallo; but the only field he's a master in is the Dirty Harry inspired sub-genre, 'Polizia'. This is only my third Lenzi crime flick, but I wouldn't be surprised to find that it's one of the best he ever made, as the masterpiece 'Almost Human' only just edges it out. Umberto Lenzi packs his film with all the things you'd expect from the crime genre; with things such as shootouts, car chases and sadism featuring strongly. The actual plot is a little convoluted, and follows Italian mob boss 'The Chinaman', as he hooks up with New York crime lord Frank Di Maggio. The cop looking to take the pair of them down is Leonardo Tanzi, a man not afraid to break the law in order to bring in his man.

Exactly which of the title monikers apply to which of the three characters is never really explained; although personally, I wager that Tomas Milian's Chinaman is 'The Cynic', John Saxon's mob boss is 'The Rat' and Maurizio Merli violent copper is the aptly named 'The Fist'. One of the film's strongest elements is undoubtedly the cast list, as the central trio of characters are brought to life by three of cult cinema's best actors. Tomas Milian certainly knows his way around a sadistic part, while the underrated (and sadly here underused) John Saxon's resume speaks for itself. Maurizio Merli is perhaps the least accredited member of the cast, but lead roles in this and Lenzi's Violent Naples certainly shows that the man can play the gritty copper. The plot flows very well, and Lenzi's direction continually impresses. It can be a little hard to follow at times, but there's always enough shooting and murders to keep genre fans happy. The ending is a major strongpoint too, as Lenzi spends the entire film building up to a showdown, and when it hits; it doesn't disappoint. Overall, this is a first class example of the Italian crime thriller and comes highly recommended.

With "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist", Umberto Lenzi proved once more what he had already proven numerous times before, namely that he was Italy's greatest and hardest-working crime-movie director! Even during the second half of the 70s decade, when the heydays of the Poliziotesschi were actually over already, Lenzi still made a handful of downright awesome genre classics. "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" is even one of the best Poliziotesschi ever, with a very eventful but nevertheless solid script, no less than three of the finest contemporary lead actors and a truckload of impressively staged action footage. The title, and quite many of the themes as well, are obvious (and sublime) references towards Sergio Leone's landmark western "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly". However, in Leone's film, it was unmistakably clear who was who, whereas here the three main protagonists are never referred to with one of the aliases/nicknames of the title and it's not all that obvious to guess, neither! I presume Maurizio Merli - Tanzi the good guy - is "the Fist", since he's battling the organized crime in Rome with his bare vigilante hands now that he quit the police. I also daresay John Saxon's character Di Maggio is "the Rat", since his filthy mafia activities infest the entire city like a disease. And finally, Tomas Milian - in a truly superb performance - is probably "the Cynic" because, well, he's one of the cruelest and most relentless villains to ever appear on screen (just look at the hospital execution sequences for evidence).

Great movie, ditto soundtrack and particularly the sequences that feature Tomas Milian and John Saxon together rank as some of the most powerful ones in Italian cult cinema history!

My estimation of Umberto Lenzi has risen over the years. Maybe I shouldn't have started with his late-era movies like House of Lost Souls etc, but during the seventies he was one of the great. This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

If there's a bad Italian crime movie, I haven't seen it. This one has Maurizio Merli as a cop driven to fake his death as Tomas Milian gets out of jail and swear revenge. You seen these films, right? I don't have to explain any more (gunfights, fistfights, car chases, showdowns).

These films, above all Italian genre movies, make me feel like a little kid again, from the music, to the style, to John Saxon's moustache, you just can't beat them. This is benefits from having Merli, Saxon, and especially Milian trying to out act each other.

The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist makes me want to go out, by a kipper tie and flared pastel suit, grow a moustache, grab a bottle of J&B, light up a Malboro, slip the safety of a sub-machine gun and jump onto a moped with a hooker with a heart of gold (who isn't averse to a friendly smack in the chops if she gets lippy).

Get it now - you can get box sets of these from the US for pennies.

Good poliziottesco flick

Maurizio Merli plays a tough, Chuck Norris lookalike ex-cop on the case to bring crime bosses to justice (AKA: to kill them). It's fun. There's a lot to like here. Chase scenes. Fight scenes. Heist scenes. The acting is pretty average. All in all, it's worth a watch if you're a fan of this kind of film!

I've always remember of Umberto Lenzi in "La Montagma di Luci" that never hear about and hope one day see it again on DVD, fantastic picture from one the most prolific italian director of all times, he made several movies in every genre you can imagine, in this poiziotteschi he made an another crime movie exploited a famous underground of the gangs which have to launder the dirty money from their so many felonies, the leading trio Milian, Merli are a true italian, already John Saxon is an Oriundi, specifically speaking over Merli l've have to confess never saw a thing from him, but undoubtedly a fine actor (Franco Nero's Cover??) the plot is unusual and intense pace, Lenzi does it again!!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5