At some point in the early 70's, the Italians realized that the genre of film that made them famous, the western (which shifted from sword & sandal flicks in the mid 60’s), had to evolve. There was a reason that the violent tales of the Old West enthralled so many people; it was a very interesting and romanticized time. As entertaining as most of those films were, they were a fad nonetheless, and fads do eventually fade away. Thus, the crime thriller was born in Italy--the next evolutionary step after Spaghetti Westerns—essentially the same kind of stories, but with a modern setting. Italian cop/crime movies (poliziotteschi) were just modern day westerns, with cops and detectives as the cowboys and the bank robbers were now...well, some things never change. Sometimes it was a vigilante that got to be the cowboy/anti-hero--sometimes the bank robber was the hero, no matter, as long as their was lots of gun play, car chases, some hand-to-hand combat, crazy ass stunts, and all with a funky rock/jazz score backing it up. These crime thrillers would also set the bar for action movies in the U.S. in the 80's.
I myself have only been a casual "action movie" fan until the past few years, but I've been a insatiable Spaghetti Western fan since I was about 9 years old. For example, I have never seen a James Bond movie (gasp!)--Something that I mean to correct someday. But I have seen (and own) all of Sergio Leone’s Spaghetti Westerns, and have watched them multiple times. So why am I so in love w/Italian crime movies? Which are really just action movies, heavy on the drama; first of all, most of them are incredibly well made, and feature cooler than cool characters, intriguing plot lines, and (most importantly) they are just damn entertaining. I'm not sure how much mass appeal they have, but they turn my crank.
REVOLVER , directed by Sergio Sollima (known for his Spaghetti Westerns, THE BIG GUNDOWN and it's sequel, RUN MAN RUN, and his Agent 3S3 films) may be the director's crowning achievement. The film is not quite a masterpiece, but it comes very close, mainly for 3 reasons: Oliver Reed, Fabio Testi, and Ennio Morricone--top that off with a well written script and top notch directing, and you can achieve greatness--but does it?
Screen legend, Oliver Reed, plays a badass prison warden named, Vito (but not the stereotypical "evil" warden as seen in so many other films). His wife is kidnapped, and in order to get her back, he has to release a prisoner named, Milo, played by Fabio Testi (possibly his finest performance) from his prison. Why they want Milo is kept a secret for most of the film, and Milo has no idea why the kidnappers want him out either; for the most part he's just a petty thief, without any real friends. Vito, who loves his wife dearly, does what he has to do, and helps Milo escape, thus putting his own career and life in jeopardy. The first hand-off doesn't go as planned, and Vito and Milo end up stuck together; running from the law and trying to figure out who the kidnappers are and why they want Milo. The film is sort of a precursor to the Eddie Murphey/Nick Nolte film, 48 HOURS, were a cop and a prisoner are forced to work together to solve a crime and a friendship is formed as a result. Which I guess makes both films vague variations on THE DEFIANT ONES.
Milo, in the end, is really not a bad guy--but he is involved w/some really bad dudes. There are a few twists and turns in the film, involving a French pop star, the police force, the mob, and the government, which only 'seem' to confuse the plot, though the plot of the film is really fairly simple, and straight forward, but it does leave the viewer to figure some things out; instead of spelling everything out, which can make it seem like a complicated plot. I myself was rather confused about some of the events, and were they led to, but by the end I had figured it out--needless to say, I was enthralled through the whole film, and I actually felt for the characters, which makes the downer ending, so heart wrenching--again, due to Oliver Reed and Fabio Testi's performance, and a beautiful—yet, hard hitting score by Mr. Morricone.
As usual, Blue Underground did a fabulous job w/the DVD release, and their bonus footage is very well done. There's a featurette that talks about Oliver Reed, and how he was on the set (a legendary binge drinker), which is very fascinating, if you're fan, as I am. Reed was incredible actor, who was known to overact, but so many people confuse overacting w/ bad acting. Some of my favorite actors are guys that ham it up, and know the just the right amount of over-the-top, and Oliver Reed is one of those actors. Why knock a passionate performance? If you don't put passion into what you do--why bother? Fabio Testi also does great in the film, but his acting style is very different. Sollima even says in the featurette. Up until REVOLVER, Testi was used for his looks, and never really given a chance to act. Fabio Testi's career would jump after this film because his performance is very good, and he showed he had the chops to be a leading man with box office draw (in Europe that is).
Ennio Morricone's score only adds to the films greatness, as his scores always do--he is the master of his craft, and there's really no debating it. No matter if you like or dislike a movie that Morricone provides the score for; there's no denying his talent. The bottom heavy piano theme is very good, but the sweeping orchestral theme that opens the film is undeniable Morricone--beautiful almost to a fault. The opening scene finds Testi's character holding his dying friend in his arms, followed by his friends burial and accompanied by Morricone's sweeping strings--if you're not sucked into the film at that point, go ahead and turn it off. Quentin Tarantino was obviously moved by this piece as well, he used it to add just the right touch to an emotional scene for his film, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS.
So to answer my own question: no the film is not quite a masterpiece, it does have a few chinks in it's armor, mainly due to some plot confusion, a few vague characters, and it probably could have been 15 minutes shorter, but if you're a fan of the genre or cinema in general, you will appreciate it. All in all a very well made, and entertaining film.
