Le cynique, l'infâme, le violent

"The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" is definitely one of the better Poliziotteschi flicks. These movies are usually boring, incomprehensible wastes of time for everybody concerned. "Cynic" is head and shoulders ahead of the pack because it is actually consistently entertaining, though I was still confused and left in the dark for parts of it. It also has legendary actor Tomas Milian as the bad guy, though he isn't as memorable here as he was in the classic Eurocrime, "Almost Human".

The movie has a lot of action, but not so much violence. What do I mean by that? There are a lot of punches thrown in the movie, not to mention slaps and backhands, and actors convincingly take these blows when they topple over backwards. However, it often doesn't look real. You can tell the blows didn't really connect, and nor is there much make-up work to depict bruises as a result of them.

There is one shocking scene in which a woman has acid thrown in her face. It wouldn't be an Italian crime flick without a surplus of violence against women. I think every woman in the movie gets roughed up somehow. Interestingly, there is a scene where the hero reacts unfavourably to a guy beating a prostitute. There is so much violence against women in these movies - and particularly movies by the director, Umberto Lenzi - that you feel obliged to assume that he was a proponent of it. Of course, the hero later gets his own hands dirty in this regard later in the flick.

Be on the look out for a ridiculous scene later in the movie where the hero and some other guy break into a building that uses invisible laser beams for security, and you can clearly tell that, when they appear, these laser beams are made out of string.

With great works in a variety of genres, such as Gialli, Poliziotteschi and Cannibal Flicks, Umberto Lenzi is doubtlessly one of the most productive and versatile directors in Italian Exploitation/Cult-Cinema. And, along with Fernando Di Leo, he is arguably the ultimate master of the Italian crime-genre. Though maybe just not quite as great (and neither quite as brutal and uncompromising) as its predecessor "Roma A Mano Armata" ("Rome Armed To The Teeth", 1976) or the masterpiece "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" ("Almost Human", 1974), "Il Cinico, L'Infame, Il Violento" aka. "The Cynic, The Rat And The Fist" of 1977 is yet another gritty and great Poliziottesco by Lenzi.

Its title doubtlessly being derived from Sergio Leone's 1966 masterpiece "Il Buono, Il Brutto, Il Cattivo" (better known as "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", and arguably the greatest Western ever made), "The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist" stars three iconic actors in Italian genre-cinema, Maurizio Merli, Tomas Milian and John Saxon. This is a sequel to Lenzi's own "Roma A Mano Armata", in which Maurizio Merli reprises his role of the super-tough and uncompromising Inspector Leonardo Tanzi. Tanzi is a supremely bad-ass, unorthodox Rome cop who hates criminals as he hates crime and whose methods make Dirty Harry seem tame in comparison. Tomas Milian is back with greatness, in a different villain-role than that he played in the predecessor. Leonardo Tanzi, who has retired from the police in this one and yet keeps chasing down (and beating up) criminals is targeted by Luigi 'Er Cinese' Maietto ("Tomas Milian") a brutal and unscrupulous criminal whom he helped bring to justice and who has just been released from prison. After an attempt on his life, Tanzi fakes his own death, which gives him the opportunity to secretly carry on with his investigations. 'Er Cinese', in the meantime, has founded an alliance with the Italian-American mob boss Frank Di Maggio (John Saxon), a man who likes to feed enemies to his dogs...

It isn't explained which titular attribute refers to whom of the characters. Even so, Merli is doubtlessly 'the Fist' ('Il Violento'), and it's safe to assume that Milian is 'the Cynic', which would make Saxon 'The Rat' ('L'infame'/the infamous). All three leading men are great as always. Merli is great in his typical leading role of the unorthodox and super-tough copper and John Saxon shines as the slick Mafia Don; however, one might still say that the number one performance in this film comes from Tomas Milian, who is once again downright brilliant in the role of another cynical and sadistic thug. The supporting cast includes many regulars of Italian genre-cinema, such as Guido Alberti or Bruno Corazzari. The film is action-packed, full of violent shootouts, chases and sequences of genre-typical brutality. As Lenzi's other Poliziotteschi, the film is accompanied by a great score, this one being composed by Franco Micalizzi, who also did the scores for "Roma A Mano Armata" and "Napoli Violenta". Even this does not quite reach the level of "Milano Odia" and "Roma A Mano Armata", in my opinion, it is still a gritty, violent, immensely entertaining and simply great Crime offering by Umberto Lenzi, carried by loads of action, three sublime leading men and Lenzi's magnificent direction. Not to be missed by lovers of cinematic bad-assery!

I've always remember of Umberto Lenzi in "La Montagma di Luci" that never hear about and hope one day see it again on DVD, fantastic picture from one the most prolific italian director of all times, he made several movies in every genre you can imagine, in this poiziotteschi he made an another crime movie exploited a famous underground of the gangs which have to launder the dirty money from their so many felonies, the leading trio Milian, Merli are a true italian, already John Saxon is an Oriundi, specifically speaking over Merli l've have to confess never saw a thing from him, but undoubtedly a fine actor (Franco Nero's Cover??) the plot is unusual and intense pace, Lenzi does it again!!!

Resume:

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

'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' boisterously remains a most genial Lenzi-helmed poliziottesco classic, starring the appealingly familiar Teflon-tough triumvirate of Merli, Milian and Saxon; replete with so much scene chewing testosterone, it's a miracle that any celluloid remained for the final print!!! Sinful Saxon plays the boorish crim, Frank Di Maggio with charismatic muscularity, and there really can be only one avenging, fists-first, triumphantly thug-baiting copper up to the titanic task of carving a crimson swathe of retrograde justice through the ubiquitously iniquitous backstreets of Rome, and that man is the icon of hep-cat Poliziotteschi cool; an uber bellicose, bullet-blasting geezer with a majestic moustache fashioned out of living granite; give it up for, Maurizio Merli!!! The protean arch nemesis to sordid skeezers, blood-thirsty blaggers, and pernicious pimps, be they vertical inebriate, or horizontal degenerate; you foolhardily cross that intractable line on murderously macho Merli's gimlet-eyed watch and you're going home in a gore-spattered, snug-fitting zip lock tuxedo! The swarthy Saxon fatally bites off more than he can chew, and ends up choking on the fist-sized, jaw-breaking, righteously roundhouse-rocking might of Maurizio Merli!

While 'The Cynic, The Rat & The Fist' isn't the greatest Merli/Lenzi pairing, it's pretty damn close, and that can only mean one thing, my Eurocrime-loving compadres, an exhilaratingly intense example of J&B-fuelled, ferociously Fiat-fragging Italian action!

My estimation of Umberto Lenzi has risen over the years. Maybe I shouldn't have started with his late-era movies like House of Lost Souls etc, but during the seventies he was one of the great. This is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

If there's a bad Italian crime movie, I haven't seen it. This one has Maurizio Merli as a cop driven to fake his death as Tomas Milian gets out of jail and swear revenge. You seen these films, right? I don't have to explain any more (gunfights, fistfights, car chases, showdowns).

These films, above all Italian genre movies, make me feel like a little kid again, from the music, to the style, to John Saxon's moustache, you just can't beat them. This is benefits from having Merli, Saxon, and especially Milian trying to out act each other.

The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist makes me want to go out, by a kipper tie and flared pastel suit, grow a moustache, grab a bottle of J&B, light up a Malboro, slip the safety of a sub-machine gun and jump onto a moped with a hooker with a heart of gold (who isn't averse to a friendly smack in the chops if she gets lippy).

Get it now - you can get box sets of these from the US for pennies.