Aka - La polizia incrimina la legge assolve
This film catapults itself right from the starting block with a fabulous
ten-minute car chase that pulls you right into it. And then ends with a big
bloody shootout as an exclamation point. It is the first poliziottesco directed
by Enzo G. Castellari who would go on to make a few classics in the genre
- Street Law, The Big Racket and The Heroin Busters before going off into
other trashier directions. Casttellari brings Franco Nero on board as a relentlessly
honest cop, a role he was to play a few times over the next few years. They
worked together in a bunch of films and the director said he wishes he could
have starred Nero in all of the films he made The film hits a few dramatic
roadblocks along the way but Nero's intensity and a few solid action scenes
keep you involved. I watched the English dub in which I think Nero and the
American actor James Whitmore dub themselves - but at times it gets confusing
as to who is trying to kill who and that might be attributable to the dub
and a few rough abrupt cuts.
When the high-speed veering chase is over, Nero has captured a Lebanese drug
dealer who just came into town. But they never have the chance to get anything
out of him as the police car is blown up killing him and three cops. Nero
goes on a tear of rage but his Boss, Whitmore, keeps telling him to be patient.
We don't care about the small fries - we want the big fish. Their shouting
matches are a bit much. Nero has a top gangster friend of sorts played by
Fernando Rey (French Connection) - he doesn't appreciate the Lebanese gang
moving in and he is dying - so in an elliptical manner they work together.
Every time Nero thinks he has a lead, the lead turns up dead - the gangs
are killing each other. Whenever one of these films shows the cop having
a family or a girlfriend, you would not want to bet on them making it to
the end. It is one of my gripes about these films. What's the point - it
just makes the cop angrier and it feels so predictable. It would be nice
for a change if the woman pulled out a gun and shot them dead. Dour, cynical
and dark, this was one of the early films in the genre and its popularity
ensured more would follow.
