Le cynique, l'infâme, le violent

This is one of the better poliziotteschi I've seen - written by Lenzi with two other Euro-Cult stalwarts, Ernesto Gastaldi and Dardano Sacchetti - and also, perhaps, the quintessential Maurizio Merli film (not that this, in itself, is a guarantee of quality!).

From the title, one presumes that this was intended to be THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1966) of crime films - although, here, the shifty alliance is made between two baddies (Tomas Milian - dubbed "The Chinaman", for some reason a favorite nickname in films from this subgenre! - and John Saxon). Again, having just watched COP IN BLUE JEANS (1976) the previous day, I couldn't help noticing just how many of these films open with a robbery sequence; likewise, the leading man's girlfriend generally emanates from the wrong side of the tracks and is victimized for aiding our hero during the course of the film!

As is to be expected, the film's pace never lets up by providing a steady quota of highly proficient action scenes - culminating in a heist committed at one of Saxon's offices by Milian's thugs(!) and which also involves Merli and "The Professor", an elderly pint-sized expert in gadgetry, in the elaborate diffusion of the building's security system. Still, characterization is not entirely neglected: Merli is obsessed with catching Milian (even if the two only come face to face at the climax) and, feigning his own death, works undercover to this end but remains in contact with his chief; Milian is a small- time hood with ambitions of taking over the territory of American mobster Saxon; the latter, then, is the typical gangster - wealthy, ruthless (with a penchant for leaving traitors at the mercy of his enormous hounds!) and apparently omnipotent. The scenes in which the villainous duo clash - each with his own agenda which sees no place in the scheme of things for the other! - constitute some of the film's highlights; Franco Micalizzi's score is also notable.

Even if the film's in no way a spoof as COP IN BLUE JEANS had been, its script features a comparable surfeit of hard-boiled dialogue which is so over-the-top as to be quite funny - extending even to the notes of condolences passed on amongst the criminals as a means of heralding someone's death sentence!

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.

"The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" is definitely one of the better Poliziotteschi flicks. These movies are usually boring, incomprehensible wastes of time for everybody concerned. "Cynic" is head and shoulders ahead of the pack because it is actually consistently entertaining, though I was still confused and left in the dark for parts of it. It also has legendary actor Tomas Milian as the bad guy, though he isn't as memorable here as he was in the classic Eurocrime, "Almost Human".

The movie has a lot of action, but not so much violence. What do I mean by that? There are a lot of punches thrown in the movie, not to mention slaps and backhands, and actors convincingly take these blows when they topple over backwards. However, it often doesn't look real. You can tell the blows didn't really connect, and nor is there much make-up work to depict bruises as a result of them.

There is one shocking scene in which a woman has acid thrown in her face. It wouldn't be an Italian crime flick without a surplus of violence against women. I think every woman in the movie gets roughed up somehow. Interestingly, there is a scene where the hero reacts unfavourably to a guy beating a prostitute. There is so much violence against women in these movies - and particularly movies by the director, Umberto Lenzi - that you feel obliged to assume that he was a proponent of it. Of course, the hero later gets his own hands dirty in this regard later in the flick.

Be on the look out for a ridiculous scene later in the movie where the hero and some other guy break into a building that uses invisible laser beams for security, and you can clearly tell that, when they appear, these laser beams are made out of string.

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!!!

Resume:

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

'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' boisterously remains a most genial Lenzi-helmed poliziottesco classic, starring the appealingly familiar Teflon-tough triumvirate of Merli, Milian and Saxon; replete with so much scene chewing testosterone, it's a miracle that any celluloid remained for the final print!!! Sinful Saxon plays the boorish crim, Frank Di Maggio with charismatic muscularity, and there really can be only one avenging, fists-first, triumphantly thug-baiting copper up to the titanic task of carving a crimson swathe of retrograde justice through the ubiquitously iniquitous backstreets of Rome, and that man is the icon of hep-cat Poliziotteschi cool; an uber bellicose, bullet-blasting geezer with a majestic moustache fashioned out of living granite; give it up for, Maurizio Merli!!! The protean arch nemesis to sordid skeezers, blood-thirsty blaggers, and pernicious pimps, be they vertical inebriate, or horizontal degenerate; you foolhardily cross that intractable line on murderously macho Merli's gimlet-eyed watch and you're going home in a gore-spattered, snug-fitting zip lock tuxedo! The swarthy Saxon fatally bites off more than he can chew, and ends up choking on the fist-sized, jaw-breaking, righteously roundhouse-rocking might of Maurizio Merli!

While 'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' isn't the greatest Merli/Lenzi pairing, it's pretty damn close, and that can only mean one thing, my Eurocrime-loving compadres, an exhilaratingly intense example of J&B-fuelled, ferociously Fiat-fragging Italian action!