In 2012, filmmaker Mike MALLOY released this very enlightening documentary about the subgenre of Italian poliziotteschi, which were released in large numbers between 1968 and 1980. In interviews with numerous actors of the crime film boom of the time, the background, the special style and the working conditions in the Roman film industry of CINECITTA are explored. Everything is implemented in such a way and garnished with numerous excerpts from the films of the time that information and the best entertainment go hand in hand.
The interview partners are the actors Joe DALLESANDRO, Richard HARRISON, Leonard MANN, Luc MERENDA, Christopher MITCHUM, Franco NERO, Antonio SABATO, John SAXON, Henry SILVA, John STEINER and Fred WILLIAMSON. Also present are the directors Mario CAIANO and Enzo G. CASTELLARI. John DULANEY, Michael FOREST and Ted RUSOFF show how important dubbing was in the CINECITTA films. And the screenwriter Claudio FRAGASSO also has his say.
In addition to anecdotes about Maurizio MERLI, whose films have now made him the face of the EUROCRIME genre, and the director Umberto LENZI, who made some of the most spectacular Poliziotteschi, the conditions under which these films were made are also explained. Although the Italians were inspired by Hollywood productions such as THE GODFATHER, DIRTY HARRY and THE FRENCH CONNECTION, they nevertheless created their own works that were firmly anchored in contemporary Italian society at the time. Classics such as EXECUTION SQUAD by Stefano VANZINA, THE VIOLENT PROFESSIONALS by Sergio MARTINO and HIGH CRIME by Enzo G. CASTELLARI, with their enormous box office successes, laid the foundation for the boom in Italian police and gangster films, which was to last until the end of the 1970s.
This also makes it clear why such competition with Hollywood could arise in Italy in particular. Since only a few films were shown on Italian RAI television and Italians went out in the evenings anyway, several trips to the cinema a week were not uncommon. In this way, a film industry was able to flourish that was able to stand up to the studio system in Hollywood for at least three decades.
