Yankee

Yankee

Genre: Spaghetti Western

Director: Tinto Brass

Year: 1966

A man referred to only as "Yankee" rides into a dying, desolate town in frontier New Mexico which is completely controlled by a man called the "Grande Concho." Almost immediately, a battle for dominance ensues.

This, like many other Spaghetti Westerns released in 1966, owes a great deal to Sergio Leone's first two spaghetti's, A Fistful Of Dollars & For A Few Dollars More. From its simple plot to its anti-hero, Yankee never strays far from what was then a successful formula.

Here the notorious Italian director Tinto Brass delivered his one & only Spaghetti Western which unfortunately is a very much floored attempt. As far as direction goes Tinto's use of visuals are pretty impressive with his quick flashy edits, unusual camera angles & close ups. He certainly showed he had the eye to present a visually enjoyable western.

Despite Tinto's noble attempt, where Yankee fails most is its cast. French actor Philippe Leroy plays the part of our anti-hero. His character, which is clearly in the style of Clint Eastwood's Man With No Name simply doesn't work. Leroy is unfortunately miscast & lacks the charisma needed to pull off this type of character, he's also not helped by the clunky dialogue he has to unconvincingly deliver throughout. 

The rest of the cast is also very forgettable except for Adolfo Celi, best known to the world as the villain, Largo, from the mid 60s Bond flick, Thunderball. Celi is also recognisable to fans of Italian cult cinema from films such as Danger: Diabolik & The Italian Connection. Here he plays the films villain, Grande Concho, a man who has taken over a small town in New Mexico & is obsessed with fire. Yankee kills a bunch of Concho's bandits & abducts his girl to which Concho responds by setting the town on alight & murdering the sheriff, telling the townspeople that they will die one by one unless they deliver yankee to him. It's the films best performance & Celi handles this larger than life, hellbent bandit with a huge ego to boot, perfectly.

The film plays out in a mildly entertaining way but unfortunately remains largely forgettable. Nothing stands out here from the other bucket load of early Leone inspired westerns. Tinto Brass disowned the film due to outside interference from the producers so you have to wonder how much of the films mediocrity came from the producers wanting another Dollars inspired picture. For that reason It is a real shame that Brass never made another western as I feel with his creative visual flair, a decent script, and a strong cast he'd of been more than capable of delivering a great Spaghetti. Unfortunately, this remains his one and only attempt at the genre & is one which is probably better best forgotten. 

Rating: ★★½

The Italian Connection

The Italian Connection 

Genre: Poliziottesco, Crime

Original title: La mala ordina

AKA: Hired to Kill / Manhunt / Black Kingpin

Director: Fernando Di Leo

Year: 1972

When a shipment of heroin disappears between Italy and New York, a small-time pimp in Milan is framed for the theft. Two professional hitmen are dispatched from New York to find him, but the real thieves want to get rid of him before the New York killers get to him to eliminate any chance of them finding out he's the wrong man.

The Italian Connection is the second part of Fernando Di Leo's "Milieu Trilogy", it's another fantastic crime thriller that is fast paced with violence that is harsh, bordering on brutal & there's plenty of unforgettable moments throughout.

The cast reads like a who's who of Italian cinema. You have the films star, Mario Adorf who plays the pimp framed for the theft of a shipment of heroin. He's hunted down by two professional hit-men played by none other than Woody Strode & the legendary Henry Silva, a pairing which Tarantino without a doubt took inspiration from for the characters of Jules & Vincent in Pulp Fiction. The supporting cast is also incredibly strong with Adolfo Celi, Luciana Paluzzi, Peter Berling, Femi Benussi & Giuseppe Castellano to name just a few!

Despite being a loose trilogy where neither film continues on or shares the same characters it was still surprising to see Adorf play our protagonist after playing such a bastard in Milano calibro 9, though of course he is still no saint! I was expecting the American duo of Silva & Strode to be the "heroes" of the picture so it refreshing to see the film not make obvious choices with its cast. The films sense of moral ambiguity really is one of its great strong points. 

There films highlight without a shadow of a doubt happens when key characters are murdered (no spoilers on Cult Italia!) & Adorf gets involved in a chase with the murderer in an absolutely outrageous chase/action sequence which goes on for what must be near ten minutes! Now first of all, Mario Adorf is a pretty hefty guy that definitely packs a couple of extra pounds. So to see him chase this guy by foot, by car, through a theme park & then into a brutal fight to the death must of taken a lot out of the guy. To any fans of Family Guy I'd compare it to when Peter fights the chicken & it goes on & on & on, getting more violent and more outlandish as it progresses. Well imagine that but with real actors! Some of the stunts are insane with Adorf hanging onto a van for dear life and head-butting his way through the window-screen. His anger in this film is like nothing I've ever seen before & is fightingly realistic. There was no CGI in those days, I don't know if a professional stunt-man was used in any of those scenes but either way some crazy son of a bitch really did put his body on the line for this picture & god bless him for doing so.

Henry Silva is always such a joy to watch, each time he appears the film springs to life that little bit more. In some ways it is a shame that the film wasn't more about he and Strode's characters as I'd liked them to both receive more screen-time. Having said that, one of the films real strengths is how it balances the plot & characters keeping everything so tight, a lot goes down in its 90'odd minute running time but it always remains easy to follow & each characters actions are clear to the viewer. 

The Italian Connection remains one of the absolute essential releases not only of the Poliziottesco genre, but of cult Italian cinema in general. It is a film where pretty much everything is in place from the great direction of  Fernando Di Leo, to the superb cast to the funky soundtrack from Armando Trovajoli. Its grittiness, shocks & thrills entertains throughout delivering an unforgettable piece of cult cinema. Simply put, one of the greats.

Rating: ★★★★½

Henry Silva & his wonderful dressing gown. 

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man

Genre: Poliziottesco, Crime

Original title: Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore

Director: Ruggero Deodato

Year: 1976

Fred and Tony are members of an elite 'special squad' of police in Rome, Italy whom are licensed-to-kill, undercover cops whom thrive on living dangerously.

Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man took me all of about 30 seconds to win me over. It starts with with two guys on a motorbike brutally killing a women whilst trying to steal her bag. Our anti-heroes with the blandest names ever (Fred & Tony) played by Marc Porel & Ray Lovelock are part of Rome's Special Squad and begin to chase the thieves on motorbikes. This turns into a 10 minute chase sequence through the streets of Rome. It's a thrilling beginning that sees some high risk stunts with cafés being destroyed, cars being used as ramps & a brutal, yet somehow hilarious murder of a guide-dog. With this kind of action from the get-go it wasn't hard for me to fall in love with this film.

The characters of Fred & Tony are pretty much as anti-hero as you can get. They have no problem whatsoever killing criminals (often before they've commuted a crime), using torture, stealing & abusing women to get what they want. It's like a complete bastardised version of Riggs and Murtaugh! Despite this, the pair are highly entertaining & their general attitude of doing anything they damn well please to get the job done provides many a thrill during its lean 90 minute running time. 

Director Ruggero Deodato shows off a degree of the brutal violence, sleaze & general grittiness that he'd show in later pictures such as The House on the Edge of the Park & Cannibal Holocaust. though here it does occasionally come off a tiny bit cartoonish in its outrageousness. Also the film benefits from the brilliant screenplay from the director of the Milieu Trilogy, Fernando Di Leo, whom is arguably the genre's most famous filmmaker. You also get a decent score from Ubaldo Continello, though the use of a couple of Ray Lovelock's Bob Dylan-esque folk numbers feel completely out of place. Perhaps he agreed to do the film if they'd use his music but either way its a very unwelcome distraction. 

Also in the cast is Bruno Corazzari (a character actor who seems to always play shady character's in Italian genre films), Adolfo Celi (as the boss of the Special Squad) & Marino Masé 

Overall its a tight, explosive & thrilling piece of Italian crime-cinema with plenty of memorable scenes, harsh violence & contains possibly the two "badest" cops that you'll ever see on screen.

Rating: ★★★★

Fred & Tony, make Dirty Harry look like a pussy.