Product: Bad Cop Chronicles #1 - Confessions of a Police Captain [VHS]
Rating: 3.0
3 1/2 Stars - Excellent turn by Martin Balsam can't overcome pacing problems
Disclaimer: The version of the film that I saw is included in 'The Grindhouse Experience', a collection of 20 films released by Fortune 5 DVD, and not available on Amazon at this time. As such, I cannot comment on the quality of the release offered on this product page - my review concerns the entertanment value of the film only.Martin Balsam ('Psycho', '12 Angry Men') and 'Django' star Franco Nero square off in this often slow study on crime and corruption in Italy during the early seventies. Balsam is the Police Captain in the title, frustrated at having pursued the same mafiaso for years only to see him slip away each time, and Nero plays the young, idealistic Deputy District Attorney, confident that police inadequacy is to blame, and not the system of laws and courts. The two begin with the same goal of cleaning up the city, but lack of trust turns them against one another, while the real criminals continue to operate unopposed. In the end, Captain Bonavia must decide to serve justice or the law, while D.A. Traini discovers that the law is only as effective as those who practice it.Although this film suffers from a glacial pace at times, that is its only majar drawback when measured against the style and feel of other Italian films of this same era. Balsam is easily the star here - an aging cop who weighs the merits of vigilanteism against a solid career upholding the law. Too often, I feel the vigilante cop movie can be very subversive if not carefully handled - in cinematic imagination-land, events are too easily manipulated so that the only possible cathartic release for the audience is if the cop murders the villain. In that way, it is an attack on the rule of law, one which can look very appealing in special circumstances, until one thinks it through and realizes what a world run in that manner would actually look like. It isn't the vigilanteism I object to per se (that's a whole 'nother barrel of apples), but the audience manipulation. Oftentimes the bad guy is so clearly bad that the audience is ready to stand up and cheer as he's gunned down (think 'Dirty Harry'). Those films should appeal to viewers who prefer their entertainment to come in stark, well-defined outlines of black and white, and also to those who like being spoon-fed. Stepping away from the soapbox, I'll just say that this film actually examines the genre's tropes well - carrying on past any catharsis and realistically looking at the aftermath of the Captain's decisions. Having said that, I'll also remind everyone once again that this is an Italian film, and expecting it to skip over highly emotional images is setting oneself up for disappointment.I don't think this would be considered a giallo film - it's more of a police procedural - but those who appreciate Italian cinema should find most of the subtle(!) nuances from that style of filmmaking firmly in place. I find myself enjoying these films from Italy's 'golden age' of the sixties and seventies more and more - there is a certain 'over-the-top' quality to them that is surely cultural, and probably springs from the same roots as Italian opera. This one falls outside of the genre films I'm used to (the sword and sandal, the western), and it doesn't have the fantastic elements I associate with those subjects, but there is still the characteristic energy from the actors, even if the script is more restrained.While I liked this film, I have a hard time believing that it will appeal to a large number of viewers because of the pacing. One's enjoyment of the film will probably also have a lot to do with the quality of the transfer - I appreciate the Fortune 5 DVD company for putting this out there, but the image is washed out and disinteresting. It is watchable, so I would assume 'The Bad Cop Chronicles' is at least as good - one can always hope it's even better.3 1/2 stars - a definite recommend for fans of Italian crime drama, Franco Nero, and Martin Balsam. 3 Stars for everyone else.