Atire Primeiro, Morra Depois

Umberto Lenzi was the Italian director responsible for delivering the – hands down – most exhilarating, gratuitously violent and smuttiest Poliziotesschi thrillers of the 1970s, but his colleague Fernando Di Leo was the genius who arguably made the ones with the best screenplays, most unsettling atmospheres and most intriguingly profound character drawings. Evidence for this opinion/statement can be found in his vastly superior crime trilogy (containing the masterworks "Milano Calibro 9", "La Mala Ordina" and "Il Boss") but further proof also comes from this truly overpowering "Il Poliziotto è Marcio" aka "Shoot First, Die Later". Di Leo's films are slightly more qualitative and memorable because he thinks outside of the box and continuously adds new elements to the successful Poliziotesschi formula that he co-created himself. Lenzi's films, for example, are mostly straightforward thrillers in which one unbreakable super-cop (usually Maurizio Merli) battles against entire crime networks but also against the corrupt political system. Domenico Malacarne, the protagonist here, is an utterly corrupt detective himself! The original Italian title is therefore a lot more meaningful as the popular international title; as it literally translates as "The Cop is Rotten" and even the anti- hero's last name (meaning "bad meat") gives a good indication of the story content.

Malacarna is the most successful lieutenant of his Milanese precinct and often gets applauded by his superiors as well as in the local press for uncovering minor drug-trafficking rings and arresting small time crooks. His dark secret, however, is that he simultaneously works as informant for the local mafia boss Pascal and his nefarious attorney Mazzanti. When the mafia starts demanding favors that are even for Malacarna too immoral, his whole empire falls apart and his loved ones become endangered. It may sound unusual, perhaps, but the strongest moments in "Shoot First, Die Later" are the dramatic and emotional scenes rather than the violent ones. Notably the sequences where Malacarne's proud and deep-honest father discovers the truth and gets confronted with the true nature of his beloved son are intense and genuinely painful to observe. Of course, Di Leo never forgets that he's busy making an unhinged Poliziotesschi and thus the film is luckily also full action and brutality, including two virulent car chases, shocking annihilations and senseless cruelty (poor kitten!). Luc Merenda ("The Violent Professionals", "Kidnap Syndicate") is sublime as the simultaneously loathsome and charming anti-hero, and he receives good support from the entire ensemble cast. The intelligent script, in combination with Di Leo's craftsmanship and the smooth soundtrack (Luis Bacalov) make this a top-10/must-see Poliziotesschi.

I'm not the biggest fan of the Poliziotteschi genre, frequently finding the 'cops versus bad guys' formula rather dull, but Shoot First, Die Later is actually very entertaining, its 'dirty' cop protagonist being far more interesting than a traditional 'good guy'.

As played by Luc Merenda, Lieutenant Domenico Malacarne is a celebrated Milanese cop who is actually on the take from the mafia. But when the gangsters begin to ask a little more of him than he is willing to give, things take a turn for the worse, with those closest to Malacarne paying the price for the cop's shady shenanigans.

Director Fernando Di Leo expertly balances the drama with action, delivering a movie that is both gripping and exciting. Malacarne's relationship with his father—who is devastated when he learns of his son's misconduct—provides the emotional heart of the movie, while two well executed car chases and some shootouts get the adrenaline pumping. The film also features plenty of brutal violence, including two shocking murders and the senseless killing of a cat!

A suitably nihilistic finale rounds off the movie in style. 7/10 – Highly recommended for fans of the genre, and still well worth a watch for those who aren't.

Though generally a tad overrated (neither Milano Calibro 9 nor Il Boss are the transgressive "masterpieces" some Italocinema fetishists want them to be), so-called "cult" director Fernando di Leo manages to strike some grippingly dissonant chords in Shoot First, Die Later, the original title being less sensationalistic than bone dry: The Rotten Cop. While most poliziotteschi are essentially feelgood movies, the degenerates and lowlifes getting what they justly deserve, this one marches to an entirely different drum. At its core a father-son story – the excellent Salvo Randone playing Pops to the opposite of leading beau Luc Merenda –, it's a cynical morality play about a model cop appropriately named Malacarne (literally meaning "bad meat") who feels perfectly comfortable with being on the payroll of the mafia until things go terribly awry: Unlike the cheap-thrills roller coaster violence of other Eurocrime movies, the stark brutality here comes across as callous, pitiless, not even nasty, but unpleasant through and through; actually, the two car chases, skillfully done by stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne, feel like a concession to the regular poliziotto crowd. In its acidly sarcastic Weltanschauung and the complete lack of redeeming qualities, Shoot First, Die Later is doubtless more akin to the cinema of Rosi, Damiani or Elio Petri than to the staccato over-the-top action of Castellari or Lenzi: A doom loop of human failings.

Fernando Di Leo made another great Poliziotteschi, the cars chase are the true highlights of the entire picture, a young Police commissioner Domenico (Luc Merenda) has an fair agreement of the Milano's Mob, meanwhile the things are changing, now the drugs and arms smuggling were introduced by force, his father a honest and humble policeman didn't know a thing over his son, the Boss and his lawyer Mazzanti played by the already older Richard Conte are pushing more, ending up in retaliatory measures in both sides, including a sudden killing of his beloved father and his girlfriend, Domenico gonna crazy, fabulous picture, somehow has a little mistake on the plot, the triggering event is too shallow, when the Boss asking to Domenico a little favor that includes his proudly father in a minor and meaningless fact spoils the whole project, Di Leo should be change this weak point, certainly will be more realistic, nevertheless it's largely enjoyable and has an unexpected ending!!!

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First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.5

(1976) Il Poliziotto è marcio/ Shoot First, Die Later (In Italian with English subtitles) CRIME DRAMA/ ACTION

Interesting familiar premise but with expected results starring Luc Merenda as Domenico Malacarne a young corrupt police lieutenant who always had no problems working with a particular don for illegal booze and cigarettes, until some elder bystander files a complaint regarding being blocked from the inside from getting out. For cautionary reasons the mob is pressing Domenco to go to the police station where the file is located and then retrieve it for the mob so that he can have it destroyed since it contains the license plate number that can connect a particular person with a current murder that happened nearby. Written and directed by Fernando Di Leo has some interesting things to say regarding the problems that can exist regarding corruption that involves the law of authority, which can be used as a scare tactic not to do business with the mob under any circumstances, that I have no doubt in my mind some of it is based on fact. I just wished there was a better result I guess would've made the film unrealistic.