Caliber 9 (1972), The Italian Connection (1972) and Il Boss (1973) are movies directed by Fernando Di Leo.
WHAT HAPPENS?
Caliber 9 tells the story of Ugo, a former gangster who is forced back into the criminal life. The Italian Connection follows Luca, a pimp who is framed for stealing a shipment of heroin. Il Boss is the story of Lanzetta, a hitman who finds himself in the middle of warring Mafia families.
ONE LINE (Actually, TWO Lines) REVIEW
The highlight of Fernando di Leo’s trilogy is Caliber 9 – a terrific, hard-boiled crime movie. The Italian Connection is a clunky mess, while Il Boss is long-winded but features the best action of the three.
THE ACTORS
Gastone Moschin plays Ugo Piazza with a hardened, but zen-like quality. Ugo doesn’t say much but his words matter. The strength of the character lies both in his blunt physical prowess and acceptance of his unfortunate situation. He’s squeezed between the Mafia and police but doesn’t make excuses. Moschin’s choice as a lead actor is intriguing – his jagged, scarred face would suggest otherwise, but he gives a uniquely effective lead actor performance.
Mario Adorf plays mobster Rocco in Caliber 9 and embattled pimp Luca in The Italian Connection. Adorf’s cartoonish, expressive face is a highlight of Caliber 9. He is tasked with wrecking Ugo’s life until the whereabouts of his stolen money are revealed. In this role, Adorf is exceptionally sleazy and chews up the scenery endlessly pursuing Ugo.
Adorf reverses roles in The Italian Connection, playing Luca – a pimp that has been framed. While he gives tremendous effort, Adorf struggles in a confusing role. He’s a soft-hearted pimp who suddenly morphs into a one-man army and rips apart an entire Mafia family. Adorf’s comic jaw and build basically typecasts him as a villain and it’s difficult to accept him as anything else.
Henry Silva plays American hitman David in The Italian Connection and Il Boss’ Lanzetta. His role in The Italian Connection, along with Woody Strode, is confusing and limited. He disappears for long stretches of the movie and only appears to make crude, sexist comments. He’s effective in the movie’s violent finale but is essentially an ugly, mean-spirited character.
Silva is given more to do in Il Boss but his limitations as an actor are obvious. He struggles to convey even basic emotions. However, Silva was hired for his international appeal and action prowess. There are some great shootouts and chases to be found, including a terrific montage of criminal hits.
THE DIRECTOR
The trilogy contains clunky moments typical of Eurocrime movies – the dialogue and plot don’t always match up and there’s not much logic found in the last two movies. However, Di Leo delivers three badass movies full of action and style. The music is brilliant – the crunchy, guitar-driven 70’s style is hard hitting. Di Leo also adds in fun European closeups, which play to the strengths of Moschin and Adorf.
THE BEST – The Music
So good.
THE BEST Part 2 – Chino
Phillipe Leroy’s Chino arrives midway through Caliber 9 offering his help – which is refused by Ugo. He is dragged into the affair and proves to be a total badass – mowing down most of Rocco’s Mafia organization.
THE BEST Part 3 – Nellie
Barbara Bouchet plays Nelly, Ugo’s pseudo-girlfriend who appears to be Mafia-linked. She’s a club dancer yet lives in a lavish, upscale apartment that is pure plush 70’s style. Her character is intriguing, as she and Ugo appear to have a mutual understanding regarding their relationship – that is until she reveals a nefarious nature.
THE BEST Part 4 – The Mankato
Caliber 9’s Mankato is a forgettable character except for his gravelly, smoke-stained Joe Cabot-esque voice. Bonus points for his swanky 70’s office with multiple rotary phones.
THE BEST Part 5 – Budgeting for Fire
Di Leo expertly substitutes huge explosions for plot devices in Il Boss, including in the suspenseful finale.
THE WORST – Henry Silva is Kind of a Dick
Silva and women just don’t mix. He throws out endless disrespectful one-liners in The Italian Connection before getting into an odd passive-aggressive relationship with Don Guiseppe’s kidnapped girlfriend. Silva’s go-to move is frustrated domestic violence – something that doesn’t exactly age well.
THE WORST Part 2 – It’s Stupidly Easy to Take Down a Mafia Family
There are three lessons to be learned in Eurocrime movies:
1-The system is broken. (Repeat that 100 times).
2-Don’t trust hippies.
3-Mafia dons are poorly guarded.
We learn this final lesson in all three movies. Chino, Luca and Lanzetta all accomplish the feat with moderate effort. The most difficult part of the task is absorbing the endless, confusing exposition.
THE WORST Part 3 – The Lazy Revolutionaries
The Italian Connection features a group of seemingly well-connected Marxists whose greatest political victory is scoring drugs – which in 70’s Italy makes them a public enemy.
FOX FORCE FIVE RATING
Caliber 9 – 4/5
The Italian Connection – 2.5/5
Il Boss – 3/5
