La guerre des gangs

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

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.

Umberto Lenzi made some of the best Italian crime films with films like The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist and Almost Human, and part of the reason why these films were so successful was due to the presence of one of Italy's finest actors - the great Tomas Milian. This film doesn't feature the immense talents of Mr Milian, although it's not all bad news as Lenzi has still managed to put together a pretty damn good little crime thriller. As most of these films take a lot of influence from the masterpiece Dirty Harry, many of them focus on police officers - but this one puts its focus on criminals. The main character is a fruit vendor who makes most of his money through pimping prostitutes. His lucrative racket is interrupted one day when a French drug dealer decides that he wants to go into business with the pimp, using the whores to push his drugs. However, our pimp isn't happy with that, which is a problem as the French drug dealer isn't happy with people saying no to him, and so sets about trying to find ways to force the pimp to work with him.

It has to be said that Milano Rovente is not a spectacular crime flick; especially when compared to Lenzi's other works. However, the film is notable for the way that it doesn't strictly adhere to the rules of the genre, and also for the fact that the interesting story is carried off with panache by a team of decent actors. Antonio Sabato is no Tomas Milian, but he carries the lead role off well in his authoritative role. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be more violent than the rest of the pack, and this one doesn't disappoint in that respect as it features plenty of brutal scenes. There isn't a lot in the way of car chases, and it has to be said that the tone of the film is largely downtrodden throughout; unlike the majority of these types of films which tend to be largely quite fun to watch. It all boils down to a nice, and rather fitting, conclusion and while I can't say that Milano Rovente is one of the best films of its type - it certainly isn't a bad one, and fans of this sort of film are likely to enjoy it.

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.

The first of Umberto Lenzi's Eurocrime film and went on to see several in the late 70s like The Tough Ones (1976), The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (1977) and Brothers Till We Die (1978). This one is fine and maybe they get a bit better later. It is rather sleazy and certainly nasty but I have to say that the action gets on at the start and never stops. Antonio Sabato is a Sicilian who stars as a pimp with a massive prostitution operation while Philippe Leroy the great actor was French and gets into the action with his drugs and he is rather cool unlike Sabato is rather always shouting about. He was in a couple of gialli, The Man With Icy Eyes (1971) and Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972) also starred again and also with Lenzi. Leroy had made so many films like the splendid The Laughing Woman (1969) with Dagmar Lassander, Caliber 9 (1972) and The Night Porter (1974). Lenzi gets better with his Eurocrimes although with this one, he was in the middle of his great Gialli phase.