La guerre des gangs

Along with Fernando Di Leo (and Damiano Damiani, whose films are different and more sophisticated), the great Umberto Lenzi, master of many Italian cult-genres, is the undisputed king of the Poliziotteschi/Italian Crime genre. While his 1973 mob war film "Milano Rovente" aka. "Gang War in Milan" does not reach the greatness of some of his later genre achievements (above all the masterpiece "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" aka. "Almost Human"/"The Kidnap of Mary Lou" of 1974), this is yet another gritty, hard-boiled and very entertaining flick that should not be missed by genre-fans.

Milan is the setting of a brutal and merciless war between Sicilian pimps lead by Salvatore 'Toto' Cangemi (Antonio Sabato) and the French drug mafia lead by the ruthless Roger Daverty (Phillippe Leroy). When the French attempt to violently force Toto into making his prostitutes deal with heroin, his violent response leads to a chain-reaction of brutalities...

Antonio Sabato isn't one of the greatest leading-men in Italian genre-cinema (and nowhere near as charismatic as other Lenzi-regulars, such as Tomas Milian, Henry Silva or Maurizio Merli). However, the role of the tough-minded Sicilian pimp suits him well, Toto is probably the most fitting role I have seen Sabato in so far. Philippe Leroy ("Milano Calibro 9", "Femina Ridens",...) is great for sinister, sleazy and villainous roles, and he therefore fits very well in his role here. The female cast members are entirely nice to look at. The beautiful Marisa Mell is great as always in her femme fatale role, and the relatively unknown Carla Romanelli makes a beautiful and good second female lead. The supporting cast includes the usual tough-guy faces that can be seen in all of Lenzi's crime flicks (Vittorio Pinelli, Tony Raccosta, etc.) The film is not quite as action-packed as Lenzi's following Poliziotteschi, but there is enough action and grit, and a variety of brutalities (the gruesome highlights being a nasty torture scene and the brutal treatment of the prostitutes by both sides of the war). The general treatment of women in the film is as misogynist as usual for the time, country and genre. The cinematography is great as in all Lenzi films. Carlo Rustichelli's jazzy score is cool enough, but not as captivating and adrenaline evoking as the scores to later Lenzi crime flicks (by Ennio Moricone or Franco Micalizzi). The fact that everybody in the film is a dirt-bag, and the lack of a truly diabolical villain (as Tomas Milian's Giulio Sacchi in "Milano Odia"), make the suspense level little less intense. Then again, a mob war should be dirt-bags vs. dirt-bags.

Overall, "Milano Rovente" is not as essential as Lenzi's later crime-highlights "Milano Odia: La Polizia Non Può Sparare" (1974), "Roma A Mano Armata" (1976), "Napoli Violenta" (1976) or "Il Cinico, L'Infame", Il Violento" (1977). However, it is definitely a highly recommendable film to genre fans, and arguably the basis of Lenzi's later status as the king of Poliziotteschi. 7.5/10

Antonio Sabato is Salvator 'Toto' Cangemi, a Milanese fruit and veg wholesaler whose more profitable sideline is prostitution. When French drug-dealer Roger 'The Captain' Daverty (Philippe Leroy) arrives on the scene, insisting that Toto uses his women to peddle heroin, a war breaks out and violence erupts. Toto's right hand man Lino Caruso (Antonio Casagrande) suggests bringing in his uncle Billy Barone (Alessandro Sperli), a gangster from America, to deal with the Frenchman, but in doing so, Toto faces further problems.

The general consensus seems to be that Umberto Lenzi's Gang War in Milan is not as good as his subsequent Poliziotteschi, Almost Human. I suspect the problem for many is that Toto, the central character, is every bit as unlikeable as those he is fighting against: he's a smarmy misogynist who treats women as commodities and will stop at nothing to maintain control of his business (whereas Tomas Milian in Almost Human was someone you could root for). Toto reminded me of Pacino in Scarface, but in my opinion that's not a bad thing: sometimes it's fun to watch a film full of characters with very few redeeming qualities battle it out for money and power, especially one that sees most involved get what they deserve in the end.

Unlike Almost Human, this film features absolutely no humour: it's a hard-edged crime film that delivers plenty of sleaze and brutality, much of the violence directed at women. It's gritty stuff and Lenzi, renowned for his gory Cannibal films, doesn't shy away from the violence. Toto's women are targeted by Daverty's henchmen, the ladies beaten, robbed, and killed. A prostitute has acid thrown in her face, and two are found mutilated in a car. But it's not all misogynistic brutality: in one harrowing scene guaranteed to have men crossing their legs, Lino is tortured with bare electrical wires applied to his genitals.

Lenzi keeps the action flowing nicely, with never a dull moment, and his cast are great, with Alessandro Sperli putting in a particularly fine, scene-stealing turn as Billy Barone, who puts a stop to the gang war once and for all in the predictable, but satisfying conclusion.

As other reviewers have said this Umberto Lenzi "polizieschi" really pales compared to the director's earlier "Almost Human", which was one of the best of the entire genre, and Anthony Sabato is indeed a poor substitute for the great Tomas Milan. But this one does have its moments. This movie is about a "gang war in Milan" (the English title) between Sicilian pimps and French-connection drug dealers. The leader of former group (Sabato)brings in another menacing Sicialian godfather "Billy Barone" (Alessandro Sperli, who gives by far the best performance here) who ultimately turns out to be an even bigger threat than the "Frenchies".

Most of the violence here is actually aimed at the prostitutes who get raped, beaten, have acid thrown in their faces, etc (although the testicles of one male character do suffer an unfortunate encounter with a car battery). The violence against women may be kind of turn-off for some, but it's also pretty standard for this genre. Marissa Mell is kind of wasted as the protagonist's gold-digging upper-class girlfriend, but the luscious Carla Romanelli (who played the sexy maid in "The Sensuous Nurse") is good as a sympathetic streetwalker.

The film is enjoyably amoral. The police are almost irrelevant, and the gangsters are all equally vicious and double-dealing (and all of them are perfectly willing to traffick drugs). This is not one of the great Italian polizieschi, but it's pretty fun if you like the genre in general like I do.

Antonio Sabato is the perfect mixture of smarm and charisma in the role of Salvatore "Toto" Cangemi. He's a big name in the produce business in Milan, but this is really just a legitimate front for what he really likes to do: run a prostitution ring. His troubles begin when a smooth French criminal, Roger "The Captain" Daverty (Philippe Leroy), starts putting the pressure on Toto to get into drugs. Toto is pretty peeved, especially when The Captain insists on pocketing most of the potential income. This leads to a war between Toto and his fellow Sicilians and the Frenchman and his gang, with some interesting twists and turns along the way.

It's amusing watching an amoral p.o.s. like Toto be the focal point of a solid, if unexceptional, Eurocrime story. You don't like him - he's misogynistic, for one thing - but he remains fairly compelling. In fact, in this yarn there are very few innocents, or characters with genuine rooting interest. Still, it's fun to watch as these not-so-honourable crooks figure out ways to mess with each other. The film has its moments of violence - like acid thrown in a face, or the mutilating of a breast - but in truth is not all that gory. It IS an entertaining exercise in sleaze, and fans of the genre will have cause to be reasonably pleased. It's very nicely shot in widescreen and given an atmospheric score by Carlo Rustichelli.

Sabato is ably supported by a rich gallery of European talent: Leroy as the drug kingpin, Antonio Casagrande as Totos' associate Lino, lovely Carla Romanelli as novice hooker Virginia, Alessandro Sperli as wise American mobster Billy Barone, Franco Fantasia as the Inspector tasked with fighting organized crime, Tano Cimarosa as the victimized Nino Balsamo, and sexy Marisa Mell as Jasmina Sanders, the woman who turns Totos' head.

Noteworthy as the first Eurocrime feature for Umberto Lenzi, who may be better known (at least to some North American viewers) for his horror films of the 80s, like "Cannibal Ferox" and "Nightmare City".

Trashy and politically incorrect, "Gang War in Milan" shows its audience a good time.

Seven out of 10.

Umberto Lenzi made some of the best Italian crime films with films like The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist and Almost Human, and part of the reason why these films were so successful was due to the presence of one of Italy's finest actors - the great Tomas Milian. This film doesn't feature the immense talents of Mr Milian, although it's not all bad news as Lenzi has still managed to put together a pretty damn good little crime thriller. As most of these films take a lot of influence from the masterpiece Dirty Harry, many of them focus on police officers - but this one puts its focus on criminals. The main character is a fruit vendor who makes most of his money through pimping prostitutes. His lucrative racket is interrupted one day when a French drug dealer decides that he wants to go into business with the pimp, using the whores to push his drugs. However, our pimp isn't happy with that, which is a problem as the French drug dealer isn't happy with people saying no to him, and so sets about trying to find ways to force the pimp to work with him.

It has to be said that Milano Rovente is not a spectacular crime flick; especially when compared to Lenzi's other works. However, the film is notable for the way that it doesn't strictly adhere to the rules of the genre, and also for the fact that the interesting story is carried off with panache by a team of decent actors. Antonio Sabato is no Tomas Milian, but he carries the lead role off well in his authoritative role. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be more violent than the rest of the pack, and this one doesn't disappoint in that respect as it features plenty of brutal scenes. There isn't a lot in the way of car chases, and it has to be said that the tone of the film is largely downtrodden throughout; unlike the majority of these types of films which tend to be largely quite fun to watch. It all boils down to a nice, and rather fitting, conclusion and while I can't say that Milano Rovente is one of the best films of its type - it certainly isn't a bad one, and fans of this sort of film are likely to enjoy it.