Two for the price of one

To the surprise of no one, I'm sure, I watched some more poliziotteschi movies.

First I sat down and watched Goodbye & Amen (1977). Set in Rome, Goodbye & Amen is more a spy movie than a true poliziotteschi. Sure the police is ever present but the film revolves around the CIA. From the opening where they are planning a coup in an African country to a tense hostage situation, the CIA has considerably more screen time than the police.

Goodbye & Amen is frankly amazing. Sure, the acting isn't always the best, but the story and how the movie is made is great. There are enough twists and turns to keep both things interesting and you guessing, but not so much that it becomes impossible to follow. As a bonus, all the loose threads are tied up in the end. It's directed by Damiano Damiani and stars amongst others; Tony Musante, Claudia Cardinale and John Forsythe.

The sound and music is alright as is the direction. This isn't a movie that needs dramatic sweeping shots, but the camera work is very well planned. If it was a car, I'd say the engineering is top notch. The beginning jumps around quite a bit but it will make sense later on. Unfortunately, I can't really say anything else without stepping into spoiler territory, which I won't do.

Realizing that I can't say very much about Goodbye & Amen except “movie good, go watch”, I sat down and watched Street Law (1974).

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Franco Nero as our protagonist, who is still acting by the way, Barbara Bach who three year later starred opposite Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, and a solid cast of other more or less familiar faces.

Street Law is the story of Carlo Antonelli, an engineer who is taken hostage at a robbery and beaten. Afterwards he feels that his self respect and masculinity is diminished and he decides to do something about the criminals. The police is fairly uninterested which makes his girlfriends (Bach) arguments about letting it go, unacceptable.

Carlos early attempts to investigate the underworld go poorly but he gets the hang of it and the story progresses to its logical conclusion. The interesting bit, for me at least, is that revenge stories are common enough, but Carlo isn't a tough guy. This isn't John McClane or Rambo territory, he's an engineer. What is less interesting however is that Carlo for all his intelligence doesn't seem to have much of a plan. He goes into dangerous situations with no clue of how to handle it and pays a steep price.

The cinematography in Street Law is amazing, as are the stunts. The acting is good but the soundtrack is pretty hit or miss. My biggest complaint over all, is that the story drags quite a bit at times. It's 105 minutes long and that is too long. A tighter cut would have enhanced the tension a lot and made for a much better movie. As it is, it's nice but it could be great. It falls short of the mark, and it is mostly the action scenes that carry the story along. The length could have been fine if Carlo had more of a plan but he spends a long time behaving like a bit of a moron in several repetitive scenes.

So, do I recommend these movies? Goodbye & Amen, absolutely! I may actually have to re-watch it. It is a solid top shelf choice both for a casual or a focused watch.

Street Law, yes if you are a fan of the genre or Franco Nero. He is a good actor, but the movie as such is a middle of the road affair.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!