Por Ordem da Cosa Nostra

Now released under the absurdly named Mack Video as the absurdly named BLACK KINGPIN, LA MALA ORDINA, once known as MANHUNT, shows the Italian seventies policier director Fernando DiLeo in peak form. The Italian cops-mob-and-corruption movies often had a neorealist tincture, not far from such British cousins as GET CARTER or THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY. (The best in this vein is the dark, harrowing VIOLENT NAPLES.) But some of them were as ripe and over-the-top as concurrent works of Italian horror; and this saga of a small-town pimp pursued, God knows why, by Mr. Big and two Vincent-and-Jules-looking U.S.-made button men, looks like the product of some torrid motel-room coitus between Sergio Leone and Don Siegel. The faces are sweaty, the beatings (to evoke Roger Ebert's memorable phrase) suggest the sound of ping-pong paddles smacking naugahyde sofas--the only thing that's missing is the groan of an Ennio Morricone score. An evening of Shane Black quips it ain't, but ninety minutes of top-shelf hardboiled groove it is.

Poliziottesco, a fusion of the words poliziotto ("policeman") and the same -esco desinence, indicates 1970s-era Italian-produced "tough cop" and crime movies. Recurring elements in poliziotteschi films include graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels.

With directors like Fernando Di Leo, these films replaced the spaghetti westerns. They saw their decline after erotica and horror took over in the late 70s.But it was the spaghetti westerns that gave Di Leo his training. He wrote the script for A Fistful of Dollars, and was assistant director under Sergio Leone in For a Few Dollars More.

The films of Fernando Di Leo had a great influence on later directors like Quentin Tarantino and John Woo.

Henry Silva(Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, Above the Law) puts in one of his best performances in this film. He is excellent as a sleazy hit-man. Woody Strode (Spartacus, Kingdom of the Spiders) is very good as Silva's partner.

Lots of action, one car chase, and plenty of big naturals. Mario Adorf stole the show with his huge range of facial expressions.

I'm a big fan of Italian crime flicks, and I'm an especially big fan of this one as it's one of the best out there! The Italian Connection is a part of a loose trilogy by director Fernando Di Leo, the other two parts being the excellent Milano Calibro 9 and The Boss, which I've not seen yet. As good as Milano Calibro 9 is, this film is better and I'll be very surprised if it's topped by The Boss. Like many Italian cult films, this one has a list of a.k.a. titles as long as my arm. I saw it under the title 'The Italian Connection', but it's alternative title 'Manhunt' is probably the most suitable considering the plot. It's quite a simple tale of crime and revenge. First we are introduced to two American contract killers who are given the task of going to Milan to track down a pimp named Luca Canali who apparently stole a large amount of heroin from the killer's employers. However, it soon transpires that they've been misinformed when the local crime boss also wants to get his hands on Carneli, before it comes to the killer's employer's attention that it was really him that stole the heroin...

The main reason why this film works is down to the simple plotting. The plot itself actually has quite a lot of angles, but director Fernando Di Leo keeps the focus on one thing at a time and that ensures that the film is always thrilling and easy to follow. Fernando Di Leo is clearly very good at directing crime flicks, aside from the aforementioned trilogy of which this film is a part; he also has a handful of other crime flicks to his name, including the very good Kidnap Syndicate. This film is set up like a chase movie, we have the contract killer chasing our unlikely hero (the pimp) for the first part of the movie, then he's being chased the local crime boss' men and the story is given a nice twist in the final third. Cult actor Mario Adorf is great as the pimp Luca Canali; he makes an unlikely hero, but an engaging and interesting one. Henry Silva and Woody Strode are effective as the contract killers, while the cast is nicely topped off by Adolfo Ceri as Milan's crime boss. I would say that this is a fun film to watch, but it's also rather brutal; a sequence involving a cat in a scrap yard at the end sums that up. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to name The Italian Connection as one of my all time favourite Italian crime flicks, and this one therefore comes highly recommended.

The Italian Connection is yet another movie that proves conclusively that Fernando Di Leo was the master director of the poliziotteschi. These action-thrillers were Italy's answer to the violent crime films that emerged in America in the early 70's. Di Leo made several and this one may very well be arguably the best. Its story is underpinned by a shipment of heroin that is stolen en route from Milan to New York. A couple of American mafia hit-men are dispatched to Italy to find and kill the pimp who is accused of the theft. This man is innocent of this crime, however, and he proves to be a surprisingly resourceful opponent.

One of the main strengths of this movie is its cast. Everyone suits their roles very well. Mario Adorf is particularly excellent as the pimp who becomes the unlikely hero. Adorf puts in a very energetic performance that really drives the film. Poliziotteschi veteran Henry Silva and Woody Strode are suitably mean as the mafia killers, seemingly their pairing was the reason Quentin Tarantino cast John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson as the legendary hit-men in Pulp Fiction (for this alone The Italian Connection deserves a footnote in film history). Rounding things off we have Adolfo Celi (Danger: Diabolik) as the mafia don and Femi Benussi (Hatchet for the Honeymoon) gets substantially naked in a role as a prostitute.

Like most of these types of movies there is a lot of moral ambiguity here. There are no heroes in the truest sense. The identification figure is a low level pimp after all. This makes it a crime film in the truest sense. But it is also a very good action flick. Of particular note is a spectacular chase sequence where a van fires through town with a man hanging off the front while head-butting his way through the windshield! There is, overall, a healthy dose of violent action in general in this one, climaxing in a great scene in a junk-yard.

Along with Milan Calibre 9 and The Boss, this is a top level example of this kind of movie from Fernando Di Leo.

I spent much time in studying Italian police films of this era - and this one sticks out as one of the best. Unlike other Di Leo flicks - this one has a decent story, features B+ actors like Mario Adorf and Adolfo Celli (Mr. Largo in OO7's Thunderball), the editing is fast and rhythmic and it contains only one car chase but this one has it. The films owes its quality largely to the German-Italian actor Mario Adorf (already playing in one other Di Leo Film "Milano Calibro 9") - Adorf is witty, has a face with a thousand expressions and perfectly impersonates the change of small-town-pimp into a revenge-driven killing machine - without overdoing it. Unlike other films of this genre this one is tightly bound by a reasonable script, logical development of the characters and a rough, greasy camera-style. Editing is superb in timing, no frame is wasted for stupid dialogues or the typical 70ies mood shots (you see a scenery with someone walking and nothing happens). This film is perfect for exploring this genre.