The police are beaten: Tough gangster film with Marcel Bozzuffi and Vittorio Mezzogiorno
All hell is breaking loose in the university town of Bologna. A nasty gangster named Valli (Vittorio Mezzogiorno) tyrannizes the entire city with his various crimes. Commissario Grifi (Marcel Bozzuffi) is desperate: the police can't take action against Valli and his cronies. The inspector gets permission to set up a special unit on motorcycles. In doing so, he hopes to put a stop to the charismatic Valli. But far from it! A psychological duel ensues between the gangster and the inspector, which culminates in a crazy finale. Without giving too much away, you can get a foretaste of the upcoming zombie films from Italy...
The film was directed by genre veteran (but this was his only police film!) Domenico Paolella. The PAC released the film in Italian cinemas on July 28, 1977. The film was only released on video in West Germany in December 1983. Riccardo Salvino and Claudia Giannotti can also be seen in other roles.
In addition to the numerous action scenes, which are also very violent, the film lives primarily from the contrast between the two main actors. Marcel Bozzuffi (1928-1988) represents the calm police officer who turns out to be a clever fox. Vittorio Mezzogiorno (1941-1994), who was to become Michele Placido's successor in the cult series "Allein gegen die Mafia / La piovra" in 1990, impressed as a charismatic villain. His Valli basically wears an extremely chic jacket without a shirt underneath. The devil knows how damn good he looks. When it comes to brutality, Mezzogiorno certainly doesn't need to hide from the brilliant psychopath performances by Tomas Milian (Der Berserker, 1974) and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Helmut Berger (Der Tollwütige / The Rabid, 1977).
These three belong on the medal podium for the most convincing poliziottesco psychopath!
Well worth seeing crime film with lots of action and a blatant zombie flavor!
All hell is breaking loose in the university town of Bologna. A nasty gangster named Valli (Vittorio Mezzogiorno) tyrannizes the entire city with his various crimes. Commissario Grifi (Marcel Bozzuffi) is desperate: the police can't take action against Valli and his cronies. The inspector gets permission to set up a special unit on motorcycles. In doing so, he hopes to put a stop to the charismatic Valli. But far from it! A psychological duel ensues between the gangster and the inspector, which culminates in a crazy finale. Without giving too much away, you can get a foretaste of the upcoming zombie films from Italy...
The film was directed by genre veteran (but this was his only police film!) Domenico Paolella. The PAC released the film in Italian cinemas on July 28, 1977. The film was only released on video in West Germany in December 1983. Riccardo Salvino and Claudia Giannotti can also be seen in other roles.
In addition to the numerous action scenes, which are also very violent, the film lives primarily from the contrast between the two main actors. Marcel Bozzuffi (1928-1988) represents the calm police officer who turns out to be a clever fox. Vittorio Mezzogiorno (1941-1994), who was to become Michele Placido's successor in the cult series "Allein gegen die Mafia / La piovra" in 1990, impressed as a charismatic villain. His Valli basically wears an extremely chic jacket without a shirt underneath. The devil knows how damn good he looks. When it comes to brutality, Mezzogiorno certainly doesn't need to hide from the brilliant psychopath performances by Tomas Milian (Der Berserker, 1974) and GOLDEN GLOBE nominee Helmut Berger (Der Tollwütige / The Rabid, 1977).
These three belong on the medal podium for the most convincing poliziottesco psychopath!
Well worth seeing crime film with lots of action and a blatant zombie flavor!