Bandits à Milan

An ahead-of-its-time Italian crime flick that neatly prefigures the genre's heyday in the 1970s. This one follows a gang of violent robbers running amuck in Milan and the dedicated cops on their tail. A good cast includes a star-making turn from Ray Lovelock, while the documentary-style stylings work a treat and the action is well handled.

Inspired by some shocking criminal events of the time, this is a great and very ingenious piece of cinematography. Shot between a crime flick and a documentary it is extraordinary to see how long before Oliver Stone made his movie this one already had it all: the craziness, the character's excessive performances, the mix of footages (documentary, news, acting), the gratuitous violence... If in the 60's Italy produced some of the most important masterpieces, in the 70's Italy became extraordinarily experimental producing some incredible innovative movies and movie genres (the poliziottesco, Damiani's mafia movies, Argento's gialli, Bava's horrors, the soft porn comedies, Rosi's movie-inchiesta, to name the more famous) This movie has not dated and is still to be recommended to anyone interested in experimental movie-making. A tribute should be dedicated to that supreme actor named Gian Maria Volonte' here in top form.

First of all, my review is of the English-dubbed version of this film, released briefly in the US by Paramount. I have a feeling that some of the subtleties of the Italian original were lost, especially in some of the initial scenes where Tomas Milian's character is being interviewed by a journalist. This film is quite in demand, due to it being directed by the legendary Carlo "Crazy Joe" Lizzani, and the action scenes are handled well as one would expect (the scene where the robbers, under the leadership of Gian Maria Volonte, shoot at civilians to get Milian's police to stop chasing them was truly shocking), but I would not put this in the top tier of Italian crime films, although it should get some bonus points for predating the classic wave of 70s Italian crime films. Those expecting an over-the-top Milian performance will be let down, as he is given "guest star" billing, and he is basically in the handsome leading man mold here, puffing a cigarette through a cigarette holder and looking in charge, but Volonte is the real star here, as well as the young Ray Lovelock, who does a great job as a teen with a taste for "success" who allows himself to be sucked into the world of crime. Margaret Lee's role is not major, and those expecting a meaty role from this great seductress will also be let down. I see that this film received a number of awards upon its release--it must have lost something in the dubbing, as it's competent and has interesting elements, but is nowhere near the level of something like, say, CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN or about two dozen others I could name. The completist should probably own this, but I wouldn't spend a lot of time or money tracking down a copy. Finally, the ending is quite odd--I rewound it three times to make sure I wasn't missing something. An American film would rarely end in such an ambiguous manner--thank goodness for Italians!!!

So, you like post-modernism eh? Try this one out, a pseudo-documentary told in a fragmented fashion that kind of starts out describing crime throughout Milan, but then shows the aftermath of a botched robbery, then the events leading up to the robbery, then the robbery, then the aftermath again. Hell, it doesn't even start to have a plot until about twenty minutes in - that's how weirdly constructed this one is.

You see, we follow Detective Tomas Milian as he uses documentary techniques to replay crimes that have happened in the past. At least I think that's what he says. We also get to see extortion rackets, gambling dens, and the burning of an escort girl before a robbery goes wrong and several innocent bystanders get whacked for their troubles (and this is where the story starts being coherent at all) - but who is behind these awful killings?

Turns out the gang have struck seventeen times before, including three robberies in one day. This gang is led by smiling, overconfident Gian Maria Volonte, who gets very philosophical about things. He even has a cover story - he runs a legitimate business during the day with his other two gang members also attending as 'employees'. They also pick up a third member in the form of young Ray Lovelock who wants to escape his boring life.

This is an odd take on the Euro-crime film, so cop Tomas Milian is basically pushed into the background to interrogate one of the robbers while the real emotional core of the film sits with Volonte, who loves his mamma and promises his wife the world, while being charming to his secretary (he gets her driving lessons) and nurturing the criminal career of Lovelock, all while laughing his head off about everything. We also spend a lot of time with character who have nothing to do with anything, like prank callers, and the escort girl from the start.

The best part about the film is the big robbery, as the gang do a lot of groundwork before the actual robbery itself, and we are shown in great detail the lives of the innocent people just about to be caught up in a world of violence. In fact, this bit is carried out so well that the rest of the film just kind of runs down to a halt. Strange.

You can see how this would have been an influence on Quentin Tarantino - the plot is all over the place, it's full of dialogue that has nothing to do with the plot, and it's rather violent. Just throw in Samual L Jackson, some funky music, and a fixation on the 'n' word and your good to go! For a very similar film, see Gangster's Law.

Viewers expecting conventional gangster shenanigans may find themselves bewildered by this frenetic, postmodern, documentary-styled study of four bank robbers terrorizing Milan. Graced with wit, wild violence, flashes of pop art sensibility, and wonderful music from Riz Ortolani, Bandits in Milan is a unique experience within the crime genre.

Scene-eating star Gian Maria Volonte puts in a high energy madman performance as the leader of the gang of bandits, grinning and simpering megalomaniacally throughout (and particularly evil-sounding in the German-dubbed version, Die Banditen von Mailand). A young and innocent-looking Ray Lovelock (billed as "Raymond") also appears to good effect, as does low-key Tomas Milian as the ironic police commissioner.

Artful and briskly paced, Bandits in Milan is a lot to absorb (particularly if, like me, you're reading subtitles) and merits multiple viewings. Devotees of art films and action alike are advised to give it at least one shot.