Another blazing mafia movie from Fernando di Leo, the ace who brought us CALIBRE 9 and MANHUNT, THE BOSS is a cold and violent film that purports to "show it how it is", ie. depict the everyday life of members of a small-town mafia without glossing over any of the hard facts or making it a sentimental family movie. Indeed the characters are unapproachable and unlikable, the film doesn't offer us one sympathetic person in the whole film. Instead we are asked to identify with Henry Silva's stone-faced leading character, a ruthless killer who doesn't think twice of bumping off the father figure who adopted him fifteen years previously for "the family" and who spends his time massacring people or beating women.
Silva is great in the lead, by the way. You definitely would not mess with this guy if you saw him in the street. He's one of the hardest characters I've yet to see in a movie. What can you say when the opening set-up shows him offing a bunch of rivals at a porn cinema by using a grenade launcher to literally blow them into bloody ribbons? Di Leo's knack of blending engaging edge-of-your-seat action with gripping plot twists and plentiful betrayals keeps the film full of energy and the body count keeps rising and rising after the opening massacre. I'd say at least three dozen guys get killed during the course of this movie. The film itself is very drab-looking, with lots of dark greys and browns making up the sets and there isn't a lot of happiness in the movie. Instead THE BOSS focuses on themes of loyalty, friendship, loss, and the human determination to survive.
Richard Conte takes the role of the aged Don Corasco and is great in the significant role, as you would expect from a pro. There are also standouts from the supporting cast – Gianni Garko's slimy cop is really loathsome for instance, and Antonia Santilli makes an impact as the daughter of the Don, typically getting abused and used by the bad guys (Di Leo must really hate women judging by his movies). There are lots of great turns from stalwart supports like Howard Ross and Andrea Aureli who keep their scenes lively, and maximum amounts of suspense and tension are thrown in at keys points to give the movie a knife-edge atmosphere. The action scenes are dynamic and extremely violent. Cars and buildings explode, there are shoot-outs, flick knives in mouths, loads more hard-hitting footage. These elements make the film great addition to the Italo crime genre.
Silva is great in the lead, by the way. You definitely would not mess with this guy if you saw him in the street. He's one of the hardest characters I've yet to see in a movie. What can you say when the opening set-up shows him offing a bunch of rivals at a porn cinema by using a grenade launcher to literally blow them into bloody ribbons? Di Leo's knack of blending engaging edge-of-your-seat action with gripping plot twists and plentiful betrayals keeps the film full of energy and the body count keeps rising and rising after the opening massacre. I'd say at least three dozen guys get killed during the course of this movie. The film itself is very drab-looking, with lots of dark greys and browns making up the sets and there isn't a lot of happiness in the movie. Instead THE BOSS focuses on themes of loyalty, friendship, loss, and the human determination to survive.
Richard Conte takes the role of the aged Don Corasco and is great in the significant role, as you would expect from a pro. There are also standouts from the supporting cast – Gianni Garko's slimy cop is really loathsome for instance, and Antonia Santilli makes an impact as the daughter of the Don, typically getting abused and used by the bad guys (Di Leo must really hate women judging by his movies). There are lots of great turns from stalwart supports like Howard Ross and Andrea Aureli who keep their scenes lively, and maximum amounts of suspense and tension are thrown in at keys points to give the movie a knife-edge atmosphere. The action scenes are dynamic and extremely violent. Cars and buildings explode, there are shoot-outs, flick knives in mouths, loads more hard-hitting footage. These elements make the film great addition to the Italo crime genre.