Afyon oppio

This movie has small-time hood Ben Gazzara crossing the underbelly of Europe, from Turkey to Sicily, to promote a huge score of heroin for him to sell in New York. There's an able air of lurking menace throughout this well-produced movie by Ferdinando Baldi amidst the tangled and competitive world of drug smuggling.

Lots of beautiful location shooting in Turkey, Sicily and New York City -- although if the New York shots are any indication the editors cut for maximum impact rather than geographical reality.

I have never regarded Ben Gazzara as an actor able to transcend a limited number of facial expressions. In AFYAN OPPIO (THE SICILIAN CONNECTION) he keeps to that standard, always smug, always with that smirk on the corner of his lips suggesting that he considers himself to be cleverer than anyone else.

Which is a dangerous assumption to make in the dog eat dog world of drug smuggling, as he should know, finding out in the process that not even police live up to their word.

The best things about this cynical, brutally violent flick are: beautiful Silvia Monti, and all the other splendid females; and the beginning, when a police officer decides to investigate whether a corpse about to be buried actually hides drugs. Gazzara appears on the screen shortly afterward to guarantee downhill from that point on.

Probably influenced by the famous car chase in BULLITT (1968), this 1972 production serves two chases, including one where a FIAT vehicle changes color from black to white at a purported carwash - which is plain impossible even with 50 plus years' advancements in all areas of technology.

Gazzara keeps looking smug, which began to annoy me, and the rest of the cast get little time to stand out - both in terms of screen time and failure to dodge bullets furiously flying around.

Cinematography by Aiace Parolin is nothing to write home about (washed out filming of housing in rocks in Anatolia, and of Topkapi Palace in the distance in Turkey, for instance) and editing by Eugenio Alabiso rates at best careless, noticeably during the chases, which would have benefited from sharper cutting.

I watched AFYAN OPPIO in Italian which, I am told, is the original and better version, as the English dubbing was apparently substandard at the time of release. Well, dialogue still failed to impress, basically about looking after number one and being on your toes to stay alive... and old lesson that we all learn from the first days in primary school after meeting the class bully. 6/10.

Movie with mobsters. Mobsters who trafficked drugs. From opium grown and harvested in Turkey, chemically treated in Sicily, the best quality pure heroin in the entire history of drugs, 99% pure, is obtained. And then it is delivered "secretly" to the very city where until 2001 two twin towers stood tall, as a symbol of capitalism. Watch the film, you will see them again for a few moments, when Coppola (Ben Gazzara) dresses up as a diver and dives to retrieve the "goods". The film begins spectacularly with a previous shipment of drugs hidden inside a corpse. It continues with many impressive figures of mobsters who appear in Coppola's way, some women also appear, one of them even naked, and finally, the cards are laid face down, the moment of truth. Not before witnessing an "assassination" in the style of Harvey Oswald-Jack Ruby. There is also a car chase, quite successful, original, ingenious filming. Apart from Ben Gazzara who has the main role and is very good, especially when he gets beaten up and is shot (in 2 occasions, the last one for good), Luciano Catenacci stands out, the most convincing Italian actor in mobster roles, thanks to his face, see especially "Confessions of a Police Captain" Original title: "Confessione di un commissario di polizia al procuratore della repubblica" (1971). Jess Hahn in a unique role as a large producer of opium. Ferdinando Baldi did a good job, so I will be more generous than the others and give it 8 stars.

Ben plays a small time hood who goes to Turkey then to Italy to smuggle opium and drugs to make it to the big time. But he realises the rough and long road as everyone tries to take a cut from his business. Great locations (like Turkey and other places) and funky pop tunes by Oliver Onions does add flavor to this poorly put together film. The main reason to see this is Ben Gazzara who is a very underrated actor and he is great as usual. But the main problem is that he is badly dubbed by someone else. Recommended.

Sicilian Connection's basic idea is to follow a large shipment of opium from turkey to Italy and then, finally, to America. Joe Coppolla, a small-time dealer trying to make it big-time, is the egocentric and unsympathetic lead character and owner of the shipment. Will he succeed in selling the drugs or will the police or the mafia get to him first? Wooden acting, awful dubbing, uninspired camerawork and bad direction made me not care at all...

If you're a fan of Italian crime movies and seen all the classics (like Castellari's fantastic movie High Crime), this might do the trick. In fact ANYTHING would to the trick. Sicilian Connection is for italian crime buffs what warm, cheap beer might be for an alcoholic: It will take the urge away for a while, but it won't give you any real satisfaction. Addicts take note, others better stay far, far way.

3/10