street law

THE FLICKS: Director Enzo G. Castellari doesn’t attract the same kind of attention as his fellow genre-workhorses in Italian cult cinema circles. Perhaps because his films never went overboard on gore (like Fulci) or caught on with U.S. distributors (like Leone). But a trio of releases from Blue Underground aim to rectify that situation by delivering three of the director’s Euro-Crime films – Street Law, The Big Racket & The Heroin Busters – in their usual fan-friendly fashion. On the whole, Castellari’s work is indistinguishable from other films of the period, fast-paced knock-offs of Death Wish and The French Connection. But the action scenes, which vacillate between Peckinpah-inspired slow-motion and whip-pan intensity, are cinematic creations unto themselves. Castellari puts his camera right in the thick of things – tumbling weightless off a cliff, between the headlights of a muscle car, or behind the flashlight of a menacing thug. There’s an energy to his choice of angles, a devil-may-care inventiveness to his staging that was an obvious influence on modern-day filmmakers. Street Law finds star Franco Nero trading in his usual tough-guy persona for a wimpy disposition which promptly gets him beat-up by a bunch of bank robbers. Disgusted by the ineffective Italian police force, he takes it upon himself to find the guys who humiliated him and bring them to justice. Along the way, he enlists the help of a thief-with-a-heart-of-gold (Giancarlo Prete) and generally pisses off his live-in girlfriend (Barbara Bach). A bit of a buddy picture, Street Law takes a chance casting Nero as such a yellow-belly (his “fight or flight” instinct is set exclusively on the latter) and spends much of its running-time following his clumsy investigation into the Italian underworld. But each act gets its own punch-drunk action scene, culminating in an excellently choreographed warehouse shoot out. Castellari works wonders with a multitude of characters - shotguns, machine-guns and handguns blazing – creating a sense of constant chaos, while never once confusing the audience. There’s a tactile sense of impact with each shot, particularly an unforgettable image on Nero trying to outrun a Mustang at 78 frames per second. Castellari’s photography leaves you bruised, bloodied and breathless. Quicker paced and a bit more on the seedy side, The Big Racket finds the director spreading his visual flourishes throughout the film. Fabio Testi stars as a driven police investigator desperate to bring down a gang of racketeers forcing local business owners to pay protection money. Opening with a montage of indiscriminate destruction, Castellari doesn’t let up this time around, filling the film with two rapes, countless shootings and one particularly nasty death at the hands of an angry mob. Once again it all comes down to a warehouse shoot out, this time with Testi aided by a hand-picked team of vengeful victims. The plot zigs and zags rather indiscriminately. An Olympic skeet shooter stumbles conveniently into a gunfight and is then absorbed awkwardly into the plot. Testi’s relationship with an aging grifter (Vincent Gardenia) is as confusing as it is clichéd. But Castellari’s camerawork is nimble and often ingenious, with a multitude of “film school” moments aspiring directors would love to steal. Like a low-rent DePalma, the director seems to relish interjecting his style, making the film a sweet ride for cinephiles. The Heroin Busters is the least “action-packed” of the group, but considerably more polished. In fact, disregarding another confusing opening montage of disconnected crimes, the film stands up quite well against U.S. cop capers of the same period. The pairing of Fabio Testi with David Hemmings (Blow Up, Deep Red) brings out the best in both actors, especially Testi who even sweats cool. And the final act is full of one walloping action set-piece after another. Working undercover to track down the head of a dangerous drug cartel, Testi infiltrates the organization by taking some outlandish risks (like ripping off police headquarters!) that eventually blow his cover. Now he’s a target for the cops and the criminals with only Hemmings flat-footed Interpol agent for back-up. Unlike other Italian directors often clumsy attempts to mimic American style, Castellari intuitively knows where to place his camera for maximum effect. The Heroin Busters is slick and compulsively entertaining with a one-of-a-kind score by Goblin (Suspiria). THE FEATURES: It’s a shame Blue Underground didn’t package these as a “collection” because each film truly complements the other. Especially when you add in the excellent Laying Down the Law documentary included on Street Law. This 20-minute piece introduces us to the Nero-Castellari collaboration (which began with High Law), pointing out the actor’s penchant for punishment and the director’s love of abandoned warehouses. Stylish and to the point, the doc is essential viewing to get a sense of Castellari’s modus operandi. Each release also contains a Castellari commentary moderated by David Gregory and a theatrical trailer and/or tv spot. But it’s hard to choose a favorite so screw the individual purchase plan and just buy them as a group