And here we have a brand-new film company Fractured Visions, a good name boding well for future releases. It’s a bit like the wild west out there with different “boutique labels” (yeah I hate that phrase) all scrabbling to get films licensed and for the outsider looking in it seems like they are all treading on each-others toes. Its good news for the viewer and collector though as so many good movies are finding their way to high definition, filled to the brim with extras and with prints that those of us who lived through the VHS bootleg days couldn’t have dreamed of. It is interesting the way a director seems to be focussed on and all of a sudden there’s a flood of films getting the treatment and finding their way to fans. Sergio Martino is one such example and has no shortage of product with somewhere in the region of 66 directorial efforts to his name. Thankfully unlikely many others, he is still very much with us to see how appreciated his features are to both old fans and a new generation seeing them for the first time. Like many other Italians, Sergio could be looked at as a journeyman working cross-genre in the boom days and making a huge array of different films. In the early 70’s there were a plethora of highly regarded gialli such as The Strange Vice Of Mrs Wardh, All The Colours Of The Night and Torso. Naturally there was the odd Western such as Mannaja A Man Called Blade, a firm favourite of mine. The gut crunching Slave Of The Cannibal God took us to the savage jungle, Island Of The Fishmen to adventurous fantasy land, 2019 After The Fall Of New York to the post apocalypse, and careful of the snappy jaws of The Great Alligator too. That’s just the tip of the iceberg
It’s the mid-70’s that we head to, a volatile time in Italian political history with lots of crime and terrorism on the streets. Martino made 3 films in 1975, Gambling City about a card-shark working for the mob (not a film I have seen) and The Suspicious Death Of A Minor a sleazy tale of prostitution financed by the corporate elite (available via Arrow). Sandwiched between, was the film in question, Silent Action aka The Police Accuse: The Secret Service Kill which gives some clues away about it. This it should be mentioned seems to be its worldwide premiere on Blu-Ray. Sitting down to watch this for the 1st time I was expecting a violent crime-slime, cop movie and that is partly what we get. However, it draws you in with an air of mystery about it and is suitably as puzzling as the many giallo movies Martino had deftly spun a web around too. High ranking military officials are being bumped off in gruesome ways. You will certainly wince as a collage of suicides are set up in a zealous frenzy. Meanwhile a vicious poker bludgeoning has hard boiled cop Inspector Giorgio Solmi (Luc Merenda) searching for the murderer and trying to protect the only witness The Tunisian, a female companion (Paola Tedesco) from being bumped off by the killers. It’s not long before the trails cross and a confounding web of intrigue ties the criminal right-wing elements of this violent city together is a heady brew of mayhem.
It’s all somewhat confounding and without giving anything away contains all the tropes one would expect from such a film. We have absolutely mental car and motorbike chases with no concern for windows or health and safety of cast and crew. There are violent deaths and plenty of carnage. You know very well when a key is slowly inserted into a car ignition exactly what the outcome will be but the paranoia and mystery confronting our players will really keep you on your toes along with the fast-paced action scenes. Expect plenty of J&B whisky product placement, very familiar faces such as Mel Ferrer as District Attorney Michele Mannino and Tomas Milian as Captain Mario Sperli. Then there’s the companion sleuth, old flame and on off girlfriend of Solmi, journalist Maria (Delia Boccardo) helping the investigative process. In the course of the 93-minutes we also get assassinations galore, prostitution rackets, prison riots and even machinegun fights and exploding helicopters. This one really has got it all and is a most enjoyable romp that will leave your head spinning.
Another thing that can’t be ignored is the score by Luciano Michelini especially as it is presented here as a bonus CD. Comprising nearly an hour’s worth of music we get 15 “sequences” and 10 “outtake” pieces. There’s plenty of piano utilised and we move from high suspense and staccato brooding violence to lush and romantic sonatas. The dramatic orchestral power is fully forged on the likes of Sequence 6 and a psychedelic spookiness with vibrating strings and tapped percussion of 7 is just a snapshot of what to expect here. There is also irony about some of the marching waltzes used to signify the right-wing narrative of the film that will mock and parody their actions. Martino makes it clear he is no fan of their cause, musically masquerading their actions into what strikes as sheer buffoonery. The composer is not as well known to me as many of his compatriots but looking into things he worked on a handful of Martino flicks as well as contributing music to TV series such as Curb Your Enthusiasm and Arrested Development. This soundtrack holds up as a good listening experience in its own right as well as adding plenty of mood and atmosphere to the film.
As for the rest of the extras, well Fractured Visions have gone all out here for their debut. Naturally there is a newly commissioned audio commentary with film historian Mike Malloy. Then we have two lengthy features, the first is also brand new, “The Age of Lead: Italy in the Seventies Between Fact and Fiction” running at (55:36). Historian Francesco Biscione talks about the ‘Years Of Lead’ from 1969 onward marked by terrorist events such as the bombing of the Piazza Fontana and the Bologna train station. Then we have Film Historian Eugeno Ercoloni putting these events into the context of the movies coming out of the country in their wake. Events lead from the post war boom time that Italy was experiencing, one that is no doubt portrayed with many jet-set gialli focussing on the bourgeoisie from the likes of Mario Bava. As always there’s the other side of the coin from those that have and poverty and disenchantment led to the rise of left-wing agitation via Communist and Socialist movements. Right wing, government, secret service and infiltration from agitators and other countries combined leading to these horrific events. Naturally the violence spilled onto the screen with the rise of the hardened criminal and Poliziotteschi film. If you are a fan of Italian cinema from the era the political subtext won’t have escaped your attention and as the time progressed everyone from Antonio Margheriti, Enzo Castellari to Umberto Lenzi and Lucio Fulci became involved in political representation through their films. This fascinating, in depth and informative documentary provides many examples and is an engrossing and detailed watch.
The Milian Connection is a 2005 documentary (50:46). For those squinting it’s not a tourist film about Milan but about the late great actor Tomas Milian (March 1933 – 22 March 2017). Renowned for playing a bastard and a bit of a disguised shape shifting one, he was not actually an Italian but an American born in Cuba. With a career spanning over 50 years and approximately 119 films (IMDB) in the latter years he had parts in renowned Hollywood films such as Heat, JFK, Amistad and Traffic but it’s his gritty and violent portrayals of outcasts and renegades he is mostly loved for by genre fans. Personally, it was probably via Lucio Fulci that he first came to my attention in the likes of Giallo Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972) and Western Four Of The Apocalypse (1975). Now with renowned interest and new prints of films such as Umberto Lenzi’s Syndicate Sadists, Almost Human and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist there has certainly been a resurgence of interest in the actor. Basically a “talking heads” with clips documentary with various anecdotes but no particularly famous names. This is an interesting enough insight into the actor who is compared to Al Pacino (yes it would have been great to see him actually playing Cuban Scarface) and will no doubt make you want to see more of his films. Considering the next Fractured Visions title scheduled is Lenzi’s Free Hand For A Tough Cop (1976) with Milian playing trashy Monnezza a role he reprised in Brothers Till We Die, we will be able to do just that.
Onto the interview segments and 1st is with director Martino. He talks about working with the “vulnerable” Milian and his “constant need to change his appearance.” He must have been a fascinating character to work with even if deeply flawed and childlike wanting everything his own way. No doubt he would be happy with anecdotes like these and knowing how much he was still the centre of attention within the films he acted in. This short piece is mainly about Martino’s career relationship with certain “notorious actors” and as he says thankfully he managed to come out of it all without turning into a nervous wreck. French actor Luc Merenda’s relationship with Milian is also mentioned a bit by his son in The Milian Connection and it is hinted that their tough guy personas may have spilled off from the screen a tiny bit during filming. He worked on plenty of features with Martino and Fernando di Leo and even got a part in appreciation from Eli Roth in Hostel 2. Next, we have an interview from him, newly filmed in 2021. He states after re-watching all the films he did with Martino how he was impressed how unrelenting they were in pace and has many fond memories of the times. Everyone involved including the composer “truly knew their trade.” His relationship with the very complex sounding Milian is also naturally discussed. He doesn’t like Donald Trump very much either. Not only getting the CD treatment composer Luciano Michelini also gets an interview describing his “race to the planet of music” and getting into film soundtrack work. He provides some fascinating insights into the Italian film industry of the time, plenty of appreciation for Ennio Morricone and Sergio Leone as well as inspiration for his own signature music which will be now be unavoidably ingrained in your memory. Finally, we have an archive interview with Merenda.
This really is one of those exhaustive packages that gives you much more than the film itself and provides with a good few night’s entertainment. An excellent starting point for Fractured Visions. That’s not it for the Poliziotteschi resurgence and it is back to the Wild West mentioned at the beginning as another company have just announced a box set of five titles coming in June. As this includes two of my favourites Savage Three aka Fango bollente (Vittorio Salerno 1975) and Like Savage Dogs aka Come cani arrabbiati (Mario Imperoli 1976) along with three others, frankly I can’t wait.
(Pete Woods)
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