I've always wanted to go to Sicily, but this tale of the law and the mafia clashing has now made me fear that an old woman might call me a whore from the window a passing car.
Just outside of a sleep Sicilian town, a construction manager is ambushed in his truck and shot dead while trying to escape. The assassin is spotted by a local man, and we forsee the problems the police are going to have as we as the audience witness people purposefully ignoring the corpse until a member of the Caribinieri forces the driver of the bus he is on to stop.
New hot-shot police Captain Franco Nero is straight on the case, being new to Sicily and naïve about the way things work there. He knows that the local Godfather Don Mariano (Lee Cobb) is behind it all, but in front of him there are endless underlings, hit men, liars and even the general public covering things up. It's all to do with building contracts for a new road, but how can Nero stop them when even the dead man's brothers are reluctant to help?
Hope lies in the shape of Claudia Cardinale, because it was her husband that witnessed the murder, but then again the husband has gone missing. Rumour and lies fly about the place trying Claudia's husband to the killing, claiming that Claudia had made him a cuckold. Claudia is adamant that she has been faithful to her husband, but what can one woman do against the might of the mafia, and their strange 'sweety wife' tactics that turn the public against her.
Those heading here from Andrea Bianchi's mental Cry of A Prostitute or Enzo Castellari's Big Racket will be wondering "Where's all the gunfights, car chases, and bitch slapping?", but they needn't worry. Yes, the only shots fired are at the start of the film, and the film is nearly two hours long, but the plot and the acting of those involved drew me into the story. Franco Nero comes across as a young, naïve and ambitious cop who will stop at nothing to get the biggest catch, but his faults also gradually start to shine through and erase his self-confidence. I'd say Claudia Cardinale stands out the most though, as the desperate mother who doesn't even know if her husband is still alive, with even the police trying to manipulate her, out on her own just trying to tell the truth. Lee Cobb was also good as the over-confident Mafia boss who struts around in front of the police like a rooster with his first hard-on.
Throw in a whole cast of supporting actors who also stand out and you've got an ever unfolding drama set in the sun that just shows you how difficult a job the police have in rooting out the mafia in Sicily. Damiano Damiani proves once again that he's a solid director. No trash here people.
