A highly regarded example of the Poliziotteschi genre (or Eurocrime movies), Milano Calibro 9 (1972; aka Caliber 9) is directed by Fernando Di Leo and focuses on a thief released from prison after a few years. His name is Ugo Piazza and he’s played by Gastone Moschin (better known as Don Fanucci in The Godfather Part II). Accused of stealing $300,000 from the mafia before he got sent to the joint for a different heist, Ugo is forced to join up with the gang who wants to kill him, particularly the brash, violent henchman Chino (Mario Ardorf), in order to find out who stole the money and prove his innocence. Along for the ride is Ugo’s moll, the dancer Nelly (Barbara Bouchet), and Ugo’s friend from a different outfit, the tactiturn Rocco (Philippe Leroy). Not to mention a sub-plot involving the class difference and political clashes of a Police Commissioner and his lieutenant (Frank Wolff and Luigi Pistilli, both very recognisable actors from this era and who both feature in Sergio Leone classics), which connects very little to the main plot but seems to exist as a wider portrait of the political and criminal era in Italy. Unlike the other Dirty Harry or Godfather knock-offs from this genre, Milano Calibro 9 works as a crafty noir with Moschin’s quiet, unreadable performance as Ugo driving the tension. It’s hyper-violent but not excessive like some other Poliziotteschi, and is nicely plotted, creating an underworld where no one is unbeatable and every frame-up begets another frame-up, right down to the symbolically existential final image. Great soundtrack by Luis Bacalov and the prog band Osanna. If you get the Arrow Video release, you also can enjoy Mathew Holness aka Garth Marenghi wax lyrical about the movie.
VHS Tracking 