Un flic hors la loi

Revenge, vigilante squads, police brutality, excessively violent heists going awry … These are all very popular and frequently used themes in the wonderful universe of exploitation cinema from the '70s! All these badass themes may have featured in Hollywood classics first (like "Dirty Harry", "The French Connection" or "Death Wish") but it were the genius producers & directors from Italy that capitalized on the audiences' hunger for blood and violence the most! Throughout the gloriously decadent 70s decade, Italy spawned literally more than hundred so-called "Poliziotteschi" movies and (almost) every single one of them is worth tracking down. One of the directors who reigned over this sub-genre was Umberto Lenzi. Even though this "Manhunt in the City" cannot really compete with the best titles he has directed (those would be "Almost Human", "Rome Armed to the Teeth" and "Violent Naples"), it's nevertheless another mature, harsh and exciting thriller. The born in New York actor Henry Silva starred in so many of these films that most people probably think he's an actual Italian! Here, Silva impressively depicts the tormented and heart-broken father David Vannucchi whose innocent 8-year-old daughter relentlessly got killed by gangsters during a jewelry heist. Like all citizens of Milan, Vannucchi thinks that the police don't make enough efforts to reduce crime and capture criminals, so he starts his own private investigation to find his daughter's killers. His search leads to dubious vigilante organizations, sleazy night clubs and drug traffickers, but also brings him in mortal danger. His ex-wife Vera and the tolerant Police Inspector beg him to stop, but Vannucchi's urge for justice is unstoppable. In comparison to the vast majority of Poliziotteschi movies, "Manhunt in the City" features relatively few virulent car chases, brutish shootouts and general perversion. Instead of all that, Lenzi comes up with an intelligent script that touches upon several sensitive but socially relevant themes and a truly unexpected and perplexing end-twist. Seriously, the ending of "Manhunt in the City" can be used as evidence to state that Italian exploitation cinema is a lot cleverer than people (especially surly critics) think! Lenzi's direction is tight, the performances are excellent and Bruno Nicolai hits the exact right tone with a powerful score.

This is an Italian gangster film starring a couple Americans, Henry Silva and Woody Strode. During the 1950s-70s, Italian filmmakers often paid American actors to star in their films. The thinking was that these 'names' would bring in more fans to the films as well as make the movies marketable worldwide. The most famous of these are the so-called 'Spaghetti Westerns' but even the likes of Fellini and Visconti employed American actors. Naturally, everyone in the film was dubbed when the films were marketed abroad--and it is a bit odd to hear Silva and Strode with voices other than their own. It's also odd to see then with top billing since they are hardly in the movie.

"The Manhunt" is a revenge film and these two American actors play hit men hired to get revenge for a murder because the local cops are incompetents who couldn't care less. Along the way, there is a lot of killing, torture, violence and boobs---lots and lots and lots of gratuitous boobs. In fact, in its day it was like a merging of soft core porn and gangster films--though its nudity is very tame compared to films today. However, there is still a lot in this film that made me wince and it's NOT a film to show your kids, your mother or Father Jenkins. As for me, it was too nasty and I must admit I turned it off just before it ended, as I had just seen enough and this sort of this is NOT the sort of movie I enjoy. Plus, it's not exactly a high quality film and there are certainly MANY gangster films which are much better.

This is a fairly decent Italian crime movie but I was expecting something a bit more special from Umberto Lenzi. There are some good sequences, including a very good car chase and things get particularly nasty with the vigilantes but I was expecting more of a revenge movie. So when the beginning becomes rather drawn out with more and more going wrong for our hero, I imagine the eventual revenge will be that much more fierce. Doesn't really happen, we get a most depressing picture of Italy and Milan in particular mid 70s and in the end it all seems rather sad. Things are not helped by henry Silva, there is nothing really wrong with his performance but he's not the most charismatic of actors and here doesn't seem to be able to move up a gear. Music again is fine but its not Morricone.

This film begins with a young girl helping to guide a blind man into a jewelry store in downtown Milan, Italy. Once they go inside, however, he immediately produces a gun and along with a few other accomplices proceeds to rob the store. Upon leaving the jewelry store he shoots the young girl and she dies just minutes later. Needless to say, her parents "Davide Vannucchi" (Henry Silva) and "Vera Vannucchi" (Luciana Paluzzi) are overcome with grief and cannot understand how something like this could happen to their little girl. Yet, even though they both want those responsible to be held accountable, Davide is not nearly as patient as his wife and insists on an aggressive investigation by the police. That said, when he realizes how incompetent and inept the police are, has to choose whether to join a local vigilante group or hire a private detective instead. However, when the private investigator gets too close to these criminals and is killed for his efforts, Davide decides to take matters into his own hands. What he doesn't count on, however, is the cost he and his wife will have to pay as a result. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that this was a decent Italian crime-drama which benefited from solid acting on the part of both Henry Silva and Luciana Paluzzi along with some good action and suspense as well. Admittedly, there are better "revenge movies" movies out there and Henry Silva isn't quite as good as someone like Charles Bronson or Clint Eastwood. But all things considered, he performed well enough for this particular film and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

Italy, the land of fine art and classy footwear, has also long been known for having the Mafia, Cosanostra, Ndranguetta, Camorra, drug cartels, corrupt police, serious youth crime, and all manner of violence.

In L'uomo della strada fa giustizia (literally translating as The Man in the Street Implements Justice) you get a feeling that by 1975, the year this film came out, Italian society openly rebelled against the crime situation. More than anything else, this Umberto Lenzi effort reflects social unhappiness over the crime rate in the country, and how any innocent person could become victim.

As in DEATH WISH, which came out in 1974, a family member is placed on the sacrificial altar for maximum manipulation. Here, it is Henry Silva's beautiful and sweet 8-year-old daughter who gets shot dead. A purportedly blind man asks for her help to cross the street, uses her to get into the bank and finally shoots her dead to eliminate the witness... but she crucially lives long enough to talk about a scorpion, which turns out to be a piece of jewelry on the villain's wrist.

Henry Silva never struck me as a good actor and here he just uses the same facial expressions - no range, no emotional depth - and quite frankly I kept missing Luciana Paluzzi's delicate facial features. Not that her role amounted to much, basically she just told hubby Silva to not embark on revenge but to take himself in hand and avoid violence.

Sadly, Silva does not listen to lovely Paluzzi but police prove very lenient and promptly urge him to claim that he acted in self-defense. The film's best lines come from Silva's interaction with a transexual, with some cad popping up and saying: "One of these days I'll give you something nice, say, a golden dildo."

Of course, L'uomo della strada fa giustizia cannot match the production values let alone the budget of vigilantism-related films coming out in the USA at the time like DEATH WISH, THE FRENCH CONNECTION, or STRAW DOGS. 6/10.