Poliziotteschi
Poliziotteschi (Italian pronunciation: [polittsjotˈteski]) films constitute a subgenre of crime and action film that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. Poliziotteschi films are also known as poliziottesco, Italo-crime, Euro-crime, poliziesco or simply Italian crime films.
Etymology of the noun
In Italian, poliziesco is the grammatically correct Italian adjective (resulting from the fusion of the noun polizia "police" and the desinence -esco "related to", akin to the English "-esque") for police-related dramas, ranging from Ed McBain's police procedural novels to Forensic science investigations. Poliziesco is used generally to indicate every detective fiction production where police forces (Italian or foreign) are the main protagonists.
Instead the term poliziottesco, a fusion of the words poliziotto ("policeman") and the same -esco desinence, has prevailed (over the more syntactically-correct Poliziesco all'Italiana) to indicate 1970s-era Italian-produced "tough cop" and crime movies. Recurring elements in poliziotteschi films include graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels. The prevalence of Poliziottesco over Poliziesco all'Italiana closely follows the success of the term Spaghetti Western over Western all'Italiana, being shorter and more vivid.
History
Although the subgenre has its roots in heist films of the late 1960s, such as Bandits in Milan (Banditi a Milano, 1968) by Carlo Lizzani, it was strongly influenced by such rough-edged American police thrillers of the early 1970s as Bullitt, Dirty Harry, The French Connection, and Serpico, the increase of cynism and violence into french crime films, and more generally by italian real life (kidnappings, bank robbings, political violence, international and domestic terrorism, impending oil crisis and recession).
With directors such as Fernando Di Leo and Umberto Lenzi and actors such as Maurizio Merli and Tomas Milian, poliziotteschi films became popular in the mid-1970s after the decline of spaghetti Westerns and Eurospy genres.
This subgenre lost its mainstream popularity in the late 1970s as erotic comedy and horror films started topping the Italian box office. Although based around crime and detective work, poliziotteschi should not be confused with the other popular Italian crime genre of the 1970s, the giallo, which (incorrectly) refers to violent murder-mystery crime films.
Directors and stars often moved between both forms, and some films could be considered under either banner, such as Massimo Dallamano's What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974).
The poliziottesco subgenre gradually declined in popularity during the late 1970s. Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti, who was unhappy with what he deemed the genre's "fascistic" undertones, credits himself for "destroying it from the inside", by making it evolve into self-parody. By the end of the decade, the most successful films associated with the genre were crime-comedy pictures, which gradually evolved towards pure comedy.[1]
Directors include
Actors include
- Mario Adorf
- Ursula Andress
- Martin Balsam
- Helmut Berger
- Salvatore Billa
- Barbara Bouchet
- Sal Borgese
- Marcel Bozzuffi
- Charles Bronson
- Luciano Catenacci
- Adolfo Celi
- Giovanni Cianfriglia
- Joan Collins
- Richard Conte
- Joseph Cotten
- Alain Delon
- George Eastman
- Mel Ferrer
- Klaus Kinski
- Angelo Infanti
- Adolfo Lastretti
- Leonard Mann
- Luc Merenda
- Maurizio Merli
- Mario Merola
- Tomas Milian
- Gordon Mitchell
- Gastone Moschin
- Franco Nero
- Jack Palance
- Riccardo Petrazzi
- Oliver Reed
- Fernando Rey
- Edward G. Robinson
- Luciano Rossi
- Claudio Ruffini
- Antonio Sabàto
- Telly Savalas
- John Saxon
- Henry Silva
- Woody Strode
- Fabio Testi
- Massimo Vanni
- Gian Maria Volonté
- Fred Williamson
Films include
- Bandits in Milan (Banditi a Milano, 1968)
- Detective Belli (Un Detective, 1969)
- Execution Squad (La polizia ringrazia, 1972)
- Caliber 9 (Milano calibro 9, 1972)
- Manhunt (La mala ordina, 1972)
- Tony Arzenta (1973)
- High Crime (La polizia incrimina la legge assolve, 1973)
- The Violent Professionals (Milano trema – la polizia vuole giustizia, 1973)
- Revolver (1973)
- The Boss (Il Boss, 1973)
- Flatfoot (Il cittadino si ribella, 1973)
- Gang War in Milan (Milano rovente, 1973)
- Emergency Squad (Squadra volante, 1974)
- Street Law (Il cittadino si ribella, 1974)
- Almost Human (Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare, 1974)
- The Last Desperate Hours (Milano: il clan dei calabresi, 1974)
- Shoot First, Die Later (Il poliziotto è marcio, 1974)
- Mark of the Cop (Mark il poliziotto, 1975)
- Mark Shoots First (Mark il poliziotto spara per primo, 1975)
- Gambling City (La città gioca d'azzardo, 1975)
- Killer Cop (La polizia ha le mani legate, 1975)
- Kidnap Syndicate (La città sconvolta: caccia spietata ai rapitori, 1975)
- Syndicate Sadists (Il giustiziere sfida la città, 1975)
- Violent Rome (Roma violenta, 1975)
- Violent Naples (Napoli violenta, 1976)
- A Special Cop in Action (Italia a mano armata, 1976)
- Mister Scarface (l Padroni della città, 1976)
- The Cop in Blue Jeans (Squadra antiscippo, 1976)
- Fear in the City (Paura in città, 1976)
- The Big Racket (Il grande racket, 1976)
- Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore, 1976)
- Rome Armed to the Teeth (Roma a mano armata, 1976)
- Free Hand for a Tough Cop (Il trucido e lo sbirro, 1976)
- Colt 38 Special Squad (Quelli della Calibro 38, 1976)
- The Cynic, the Rat & the Fist (Il cinico, l'infame, il violento, 1977)
- Weapons of Death (Napoli spara!, 1977)
- The Heroin Busters (La via della droga, 1977)
- A Man Called Magnum (Napoli si ribella, 1977)
- Double Game (Torino violenta, 1977)
- Beast with a Gun (La belva con mitra, 1977)
- Convoy Busters (Un poliziotto scomodo, 1978)
- Brothers Till We Die (La banda del gobbo, 1978)
- Blood and Diamonds (Diamanti sporchi di sangue, 1978)
- From Corleone to Brooklyn (Da Corleone a Brooklyn, 1979)
- The Rebel (Poliziotto, solitudine e rabbia, 1980)
- Contraband (Luca il contrabbandiere, 1980)
References
- ↑ Christian Uva, Michele Picchi, Destra e sinistra nel cinema italiano. film e immaginario politico dagli anni '60 al nuovo millennio, Edizioni interculturali, 2006, p. 90
Further reading
- Roberto Curti, Italia odia: il cinema poliziesco italiano. Lindau, 2006, ISBN 978-8871805863.
- Daniele Magni, Silvio Giobbio, Ancora più... Cinici infami e violenti – Guida ai film polizieschi italiani degli anni '70, Bloodbuster Edizioni, 2010, ISBN 978-8890208744.
External links
- Poliziotteschi – The Final Take at Allmovie
- Pollanet Squad – Poliziotteschi data base (Italian)
- RDB Article (Portuguese)