La guerre des gangs

The storyline is the Italians vs. the French. More accurately, the Italian pimps vs. the French drug pushers. Antonio Sabato stars as Salvatore Cangemi, Milan's biggest pimp who refuses to get in the drug trade with some French gangsters. Ah, a pimp with standards. Of course, this is what makes MILANO difficult. How can one root for a guy who repeatedly degrades/beats women and smacks around people because "the English language annoys him" at a bar? The film is interesting to watch in that it is Umberto Lenzi's first crime/mafia film. Up until this point, Lenzi had done westerns, gladiator films, spy films and a couple of giallo but nothing this focused on Italy's crime element (unless you count KRIMINAL). This comes off as a blue print for his later works. I wonder if Lenzi gauged what audiences liked the most and least from this film and infused them into his next entries. It is a theory that may hold some water because just a year later he would deliver ALMOST HUMAN, his Italian crime classic.

Along with Fernando Di Leo (and Damiano Damiani, whose films are different and more sophisticated), the great Umberto Lenzi, master of many Italian cult-genres, is the undisputed king of the Poliziotteschi/Italian Crime genre. While his 1973 mob war film "Milano Rovente" aka. "Gang War in Milan" does not reach the greatness of some of his later genre achievements (above all the masterpiece "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" aka. "Almost Human"/"The Kidnap of Mary Lou" of 1974), this is yet another gritty, hard-boiled and very entertaining flick that should not be missed by genre-fans.

Milan is the setting of a brutal and merciless war between Sicilian pimps lead by Salvatore 'Toto' Cangemi (Antonio Sabato) and the French drug mafia lead by the ruthless Roger Daverty (Phillippe Leroy). When the French attempt to violently force Toto into making his prostitutes deal with heroin, his violent response leads to a chain-reaction of brutalities...

Antonio Sabato isn't one of the greatest leading-men in Italian genre-cinema (and nowhere near as charismatic as other Lenzi-regulars, such as Tomas Milian, Henry Silva or Maurizio Merli). However, the role of the tough-minded Sicilian pimp suits him well, Toto is probably the most fitting role I have seen Sabato in so far. Philippe Leroy ("Milano Calibro 9", "Femina Ridens",...) is great for sinister, sleazy and villainous roles, and he therefore fits very well in his role here. The female cast members are entirely nice to look at. The beautiful Marisa Mell is great as always in her femme fatale role, and the relatively unknown Carla Romanelli makes a beautiful and good second female lead. The supporting cast includes the usual tough-guy faces that can be seen in all of Lenzi's crime flicks (Vittorio Pinelli, Tony Raccosta, etc.) The film is not quite as action-packed as Lenzi's following Poliziotteschi, but there is enough action and grit, and a variety of brutalities (the gruesome highlights being a nasty torture scene and the brutal treatment of the prostitutes by both sides of the war). The general treatment of women in the film is as misogynist as usual for the time, country and genre. The cinematography is great as in all Lenzi films. Carlo Rustichelli's jazzy score is cool enough, but not as captivating and adrenaline evoking as the scores to later Lenzi crime flicks (by Ennio Moricone or Franco Micalizzi). The fact that everybody in the film is a dirt-bag, and the lack of a truly diabolical villain (as Tomas Milian's Giulio Sacchi in "Milano Odia"), make the suspense level little less intense. Then again, a mob war should be dirt-bags vs. dirt-bags.

Overall, "Milano Rovente" is not as essential as Lenzi's later crime-highlights "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" (1974), "Roma A Mano Armata" (1976), "Napoli Violenta" (1976) or "Il Cinico, L'Infame", Il Violento" (1977). However, it is definitely a highly recommendable film to genre fans, and arguably the basis of Lenzi's later status as the king of Poliziotteschi. 7.5/10

As I said before Umberto Lenzi always pleased me with yours priceless movies, whatever the genre, in his first incursion on Poliziottesque a pejorative name gave by Italian's obtuse critics, a Sicilian gang leading by Antonio Sabato who control all Milano's circle of the prostitution, a profitable business, suddenly appears (Philippe Leroy) a high class French drugs dealer offering partnership in hard conditions, a war between them is predicable, a pressure imposed by both sides lead to an endless reprisals but shortly end up in a truce, great piece of Euro Crime, displaying the underground of the exploitation of prostitution on how they get the drugs from the Roma's supplier, in this context police department is get ready to act if has enough elements to sustain on Court house, incredible well done, meanwhile Sabato dislike to work with Lenzi who yelled frequently on acting, gorgeous girls, amoral subject, many unexpected twists, a true overview of the Milano on the seventies!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 8

Antonio Sabato is Salvator 'Toto' Cangemi, a Milanese fruit and veg wholesaler whose more profitable sideline is prostitution. When French drug-dealer Roger 'The Captain' Daverty (Philippe Leroy) arrives on the scene, insisting that Toto uses his women to peddle heroin, a war breaks out and violence erupts. Toto's right hand man Lino Caruso (Antonio Casagrande) suggests bringing in his uncle Billy Barone (Alessandro Sperli), a gangster from America, to deal with the Frenchman, but in doing so, Toto faces further problems.

The general consensus seems to be that Umberto Lenzi's Gang War in Milan is not as good as his subsequent Poliziotteschi, Almost Human. I suspect the problem for many is that Toto, the central character, is every bit as unlikeable as those he is fighting against: he's a smarmy misogynist who treats women as commodities and will stop at nothing to maintain control of his business (whereas Tomas Milian in Almost Human was someone you could root for). Toto reminded me of Pacino in Scarface, but in my opinion that's not a bad thing: sometimes it's fun to watch a film full of characters with very few redeeming qualities battle it out for money and power, especially one that sees most involved get what they deserve in the end.

Unlike Almost Human, this film features absolutely no humour: it's a hard-edged crime film that delivers plenty of sleaze and brutality, much of the violence directed at women. It's gritty stuff and Lenzi, renowned for his gory Cannibal films, doesn't shy away from the violence. Toto's women are targeted by Daverty's henchmen, the ladies beaten, robbed, and killed. A prostitute has acid thrown in her face, and two are found mutilated in a car. But it's not all misogynistic brutality: in one harrowing scene guaranteed to have men crossing their legs, Lino is tortured with bare electrical wires applied to his genitals.

Lenzi keeps the action flowing nicely, with never a dull moment, and his cast are great, with Alessandro Sperli putting in a particularly fine, scene-stealing turn as Billy Barone, who puts a stop to the gang war once and for all in the predictable, but satisfying conclusion.

Salvatore "Toto" Cangemi(Antonio Sabato) is a sicilian who has made it big in Milan as a crime boss, his area being prostitution. He is approached by a French crime boss know as "Le Capitaine" he wants to go into business with Toto using his hookers to sell his drugs, only problem is the French aren't giving Toto much of an option. He decides against it and this leads to a big gang war, with tit for tat killings and Toto's hooker being beaten and kidnapped. Toto's second in command Lino Carruzzi, proposes getting his American crime boss uncle "Billy Barone" involved, Toto has little option but to agree in order to save his business. Highly un pc film, that denigrates women all over the place, promotes racial stereotypes and its also homophobic, despite this its an entertaining ride, there's even time for Toto to have some liaisons with the mysterious Jasmine (….but underused Marisa Mell). The violence is as you'd expect with Lenzi quite violent with breast slashings galore and even some genital electrocution…nice! Carlo Rustichelli's jazzy score is nice but a little overused.