Genre Films: Italian Crime Flicks Ranked and Reviewed
Submitted by grandpa_chum on Wed, 05/03/2006 - 06:00
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9. Killer Vs Killers
- Fernando Di Leo, 1985: A very very very distant ranking behind the boss, which is much much much better... not that killer vs killers is bad, it's just not the same caliber as the rest of the list.
8. Grand Slam
- Giuliano Montaldo, 1967:
7. The Boss
- Fernando Di Leo, 1973:
6. The Conformist
- Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970: coming sooon
5. Revolver
- Sergio Sollima, 1973: Coming Soon
4. Once Upon A Time In America
- Sergio Leone, 1984: Considered Leone's masterpiece, probably because he spent nearly his whole film life trying to get it made right, it started when he read a book, "hoods" by Harry Grey, just before he started shooting The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. As soon as he finished he decided he wanted to make a movie out of it. Took him almost 2 decades to get it off the ground and even turned down directing The Godfather just to do it. OUATIA is not just a shoot 'em full of cliches gangster movie, which is the reason he turned down The Godfather in the first place. He wasn't interested in cliche Italian gangsters, instead he focused on a semi-biographical book on a group of Jewish friends who got into the business of organized crime. But like The Godfather, this is a film about friendship and family, and the things that come between them. OUATIA also has one of the greatest stories I've ever witnessed and made me very eager to get my hands on the book. It may not have the commercial success The Godfather had, mainly because of the hack job the production company ordered the editor from Police Academy 4(no kidding) to do on this film, which included putting the non-linear story in chronological order and cutting the run time in half from nearly 4 hours to 2 hours, and oh yeah, they changed the ending as well. Either way the cast rivals that of The Godfather, with De Niro and Woods in the leads and significant performances from Tuesday Weld, Treat Williams, Joe Pesci, Burt Young, and Danny Aiello. Again with a masterful Ennio Morricone score which includes a moving version of "Yesterday" by The Beatles that accompanies two of the best scenes in the movie. Overall quite an accomplishment for one of the most talented directors of all time and the closest film to perfection I have ever seen... if you get a chance see it on the big screen, it made all the difference in realizing it was the greatest movie I had ever seen... UPDATE: in fact I think traveling 3000 miles to see it on the big screen may have caused me to overrate it slightly... still one of the best.
3. Violent City
- Sergio Sollima, 1970: Sollima gets my pick for the greates underrated and unknown director of all time. He also gets my pick for most full of himself. In every interview I've seen, usually in making-of featurettes, he starts off by saying how horrible the script was that was presented to him and how ridiculous the actors offered the parts were and how he turned it all around by rewriting and recasting everything into what it is. This film looks like exactly what you would expect from a 70's Bronson action film. Cars explode, Charlie gets chased through the streets, Charlie fights the mob, Charlie smacks a few unruly woman around, but what takes the cake is that it's done 10 times better than what you would expect from a 70's Bronson action film. The flashbacks are brilliant, the slow motion is gripping, the story is amazing, and it has bar-none the best ending of all time. I was cringing and my heart was racing with the image of simple gun shot wounds from a sniper, I don't know how he did it(well I sort of do, but I won't give anything away). Above all that, Violent City has to be the least talky action film ever made. There is almost NO dialogue yet the 2 hours rolls by so quickly I thought there should have been more. In conclusion, the best way to describe this film is as follows. Charles Bronson is the man, a hired killer who spends his time cruising on his boat with beautiful half-naked woman. He gets double-crossed and for the rest of the film EVERY character introduced dies, if not at the hands of Bronson than as a death for Bronson to avenge later. In the middle there are a few car chases and some shit blows up and it is all wonderful and brilliantly done. It's hard for me to explain how much I love this film, which might explain the sucky review I just belted out attempting to be critical... Just to add, is there anything Morricone can't do better than everyone else when it comes to music, he even blew me away with his whack at 70's crime film music.
2. Street Law
- Enzo Castellari, 1974:
1. The Big Racket
- Enzo Castellari, 1976:
Cloned From:
again, independent rankings when it comes to these genre lists, Once Upon A Time In America maybe a better movie, but the big racket is the better representation of the italian crime flick.