tony_le_stephanois

A few tough criminals are ruthless in their pursuit of a lot of money. But suddenly they become surrounded by cops. How is that possible?

I expected not much, but was still disappointed. It is a film that just lacks real tension and excitement, due, I think, to uninspired directing (Serge Leroy) and a mediocre screenplay, with hardly anything original. When realism is your purpose, you should go all the way, like in L.627 and L'engranages, but this film stays stuck somewhere in the middle – much too aggressive to be a romantic film, and too much melodrama to be exciting as a crime film – and that's the main reason it doesn't withstand after thirty years.

There is also the problem of Pascale Rocard, who plays her part as Sylvie (I guess on purpose) as flat as possible. In some way it symbolizes her gullible character. Because, well, someone didn't have a clue how to write an interesting female character in a story. Why would a guy like Bertrand still be chasing her, or be chasing her at all? I couldn't figure it out.

There is some good news though. It is a pretty decent film from the perspective of Daniel Auteuil, who I expected to be the main character, but wasn't. He seems to be enjoying his role as a young cop with artistic tendencies a lot. Which can not to be said of the bad guy performance by Thierry Lhermitte, one of the stars from Diner des Cons, whose part as Dominique is all about looking over-the-top cool (waaaay too large sunglasses, lots of brylcreem, leather pants, creepy smile). There is some nice sense of cinematography sometimes, but also not much, almost all of the film is average, as well as the music. There's nothing that reminds us here this film is from 1983 – it could as well have been 1977 or 1995 for that matter. Much better crime films from this era are Diva and Police. I rate it 5/10.

Usually Lino Ventura plays a tough gangster or police detective, without doing not much besides frowning and looking pensive. But he COULD do much more, like comedy (Monsieur Gangster) and there are also a couple of films in which he had to endure stuff in a godforsaken spot somewhere on earth. I tend to think those were the films he really loved to do, for example Greed in the Sun, Le Ruffian, Les aventuriers, and this one, in which he gets his hands really dirty. He plays an experienced captain and has to do a lot of hard labor, diving deep, carrying crates, pulling ropes, pulling a heavy lever, dodging bullets, et cetera.

The film is set almost completely on a boat and an island, which is quite remarkable. A pleasurable watch, although it is not THAT GOOD. The main problems are a few plot holes (how about opening one of those boxes!), a predictable storyline and the part of Leo Gordon, who is a bit too old-fashioned as an actor for this film. And there is not a lot of chemistry between the characters Osborne and Cournot but I am not sure if that was intended anyway.

Predictable or not, I liked it, not only because of Ventura, whose films I almost always like (and there are plenty), but also because of his female counterpart, Sylvia Koscina, an underestimated actress who was not only pretty but also quite good in acting, and played in a lot of interesting sixties flicks in all kinds of languages, like Giulietta degli spiriti, Hot Enough for June, Deadlier Than the Male, Judex, to name just a few. But it was also a decent directed film by Claude Sautet, for whom this is NOT AT ALL a typical film (just watch for example Un Mauvais Fils to get an idea), and shows he was also capable of some easy entertainment. Even better is Classes Tous Risques made five years before this film, also with Ventura, and of course doing rough things. I rate this 7/10.

Il giustiziere sfida la città seems a bit uninspired compared with the other poliziotteschi, for example: Milano Calibre 9, Roma Violenta, Napoli Violenta, Almost human. Though this one is made by poliziotto master Umberto Lenzi (who made around three films a year in that period), it is certainly not one of them.

The story about one very cool cop who wants revenge on two criminal families, lacks the real energy and the dramatic intensity of the others. Thomas Milan is too cool as a cop, when you compare him with Maurizio Merli (serious mustache), or Franco Nero (intense eyes). We don't really believe that he is pain because he lost his best friend.

It's not a Thomas Milan one-man-show like in other films, in which he went all out with his acting abilities (like Milano odia…). He plays his larger than life hero straight in this film. But I think it is ALWAYS a show when he plays a role, last and not least for his sense of what is cool. No actor I know of smokes a cigarette as aesthetically as Milan, and this biker outfit looks terrible on most men, but he could wear it to a fashion show without a problem. Also fashionable are the FABULOUS sunglasses worn by Joseph Cotton, but that was also the most interesting bit about his role, which is as uninspiring as uninspiring can get. Citizen Kane was far, far away.

But then there is the music. You'll have to play this film loud, to fully enjoy the marvelous tunes from Franco Micalizzi, who had a lot of work to do in the 70's.

A seemingly real life poliziotto story is hidden in the story of actor Duilio Cruciani, who plays the part of Luigino, the son of Milan's brother. He died from an overdose heroin in 1984 when he was only 26 years old. Newspapers from that day mentioned there were already six death of heroin overdose in Rome in that year already (it was only 17 January). Unfortunately there weren't any poliziotteschi anymore to make films about the subject.