AKA: La Mala Ordina; The Italian Connection; Black Godfather
Country and Year: Italy (1972)
Director: Fernando Di Leo
Starring: Mario Adorf, Woody Stride, Henry Silva, Adolfo Celi

Review By: David Austin
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars (great)

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I’ve seen my share of 70’s Italian police and crime cinema, and have a pretty good idea of how crazy and over-the-top the genre can be. Manhunt just kicks dirt in the faces of all those other movies. It combines all the insanity that fans of gritty 70’s action cinema could ask for, and throws in great music, actors, stunts, and the most charismatic protagonist I’ve ever come across in Italian genre cinema, the amazing Luca Canali. This is not one to miss.

The plot is fairly simple. Two American hitmen (Henry Silva and Woody Strode) are sent to Milan by their American mob boss to kill Luca Canali (Mario Adorf), a local pimp and former low-level gangster. The two killers are told to kill him brutally and publicly so as to send a message. They are also told to throw their weight around and make an impression on Milanese gang boss Don Vito Tressoldi (Adolfo Celi), an ostensible ally of their boss who isn’t trusted by his partners in New York since some drugs disappeared in transit. The killers show up in Milan and start hunting with the aid of Don Tressoldi and a local guide, but Don Tressoldi has his own agenda, and Luca Canali is not the pushover everyone expects …

If this is your first Italian crime action movie from the 70’s, you’re in for a treat. Ultra-violence, car chases, pounding music, mind-boggling 70’s fashion, and ferocious moustaches are the norm. Unfortunately, the films usually suffer the same flaws as most Italian genre cinema - poor plot, dialogue and characterization, and characters behaving, in giallo-fashion, like wooden dummies, complete idiots, violent murderers, or (a favorite phrase of mine in Italian cinema) sex maniacs. Manhunt is not entirely free of these problems, but it is head and shoulders above most of its peers.

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The main thing Manhunt has going for it is Luca Canali, The Man. Luca, an minor operator in a bad situation, is, as played by Mario Adorf , larger than life. Forget realism, this is the pimp that everybody loves, taking care of business and trying to protect his ex-wife and daughter. It is impossible not to like Luca. Adorf has an incredible physical presence – he hulks through the movie like a wounded grizzly bear, with a giant jaw filled with tremendous white teeth that will put you in mind of Jaws from the James Bond franchise. He’s got the pompadour, the short fat tie, and a player’s moustache. Luca just wants to get along with everybody, but when he has to, he’ll prove that he is the master of the head butt. Obviously the character is preposterous, but Adorf has charisma out the wazoo, and you’ll be cheering him on both when knocks heads and when he plays with kittens while awaiting a showdown.

Henry Silva and Woody Strode make an excellent team as the killers, and provide great antagonists. Both men are veterans of Italian cinema (Once Upon a Time in the West, The Boss, etc.) and Di Leo makes the most of them. Strode was almost 60 but exudes a quiet power, and is incredibly jacked. Silva plays a sleazy loudmouth, with an undercurrent of menace. The film subtly makes clear that Strode’s character knows that Silva’s is a jackass, but is way too much of a professional to make an issue out of it. Don Tressoldi is played with weaselly charm and desperation by Adolfo Celi, perhaps best known in America as the villain in Thunderball and Diabolik.

Manhunt has style to spare. Di Leo populates the film with a gallery of grotesques out of Yojimbo or a Sergio Leone film. The picture is gorgeous with lots of bright primary colors, particularly the wardrobes of the hitmen. The editing style is rough and choppy, with lots of quick reaction cuts, creating a sense of tension and immediacy. The funk-inflected main theme and score from Armando Trovajoli is catchy and driving - I had it in my head for hours and would love to find a soundtrack. Trovajoli also scored Marriage Italian-style, Hercules and the Haunted World, and numerous other peplum films, as well as working on Boccaccio ’70, La Dolce Vita and having one of his songs featured in Kill Bill. The action is truly thrilling, particularly the climax and an incredibly long chase scene between Adorf and a Frank Zappa look-alike that still makes my jaw drop.

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One of the few weak points in the film is the characterization of women. Francesca Romana Coluzzi plays Trini, a blue fright-wigged object of inexplicable desire to much of the male cast. Aside from the fact that she would probably turn more heads away from her, than towards, she has been saddled with the role of social revolutionary, espousing ill-thought out revolutionary sentiment and postering her walls with Kennedy and Che Guevara. Nods toward the radical politics of the day are common in this genre, but are more out of place in Manhunt than in many of its contemporaries, which more explicitly address the social ills of the time. Trini (and Di Leo by extension) is more like Jean-Pierre Leaud in Masculin-Feminin, a poseur who espouses views in order to get attention. Still, the material is not too heavy-handed, and does not take up an inordinate amount of time. There’s also Luciana Paluzzi as Eva, the killers’ naïve guide. Her acting is fine, but the character is rather muddled and poorly thought-out. On a shallower note, the film suffers what I’ve found to be a common problem in Di Leo movies, relatively unattractive actresses in what are supposed to be eye-candy roles (Slaughter Hotel and the absolutely stunning Barbara Bouchet in Milan Caliber 9 excepted).

Despite those minor quibbles, I really can’t say enough good things about Manhunt. Mario Adorf is great, the action is exciting, and the movie is incredibly fun.

Manhunt is available on an Italian import DVD from Raro Video. The DVD is PAL and region free. The transfer is anamorphic and beautiful - colors really stand out. In a nice touch, that puts Raro above many of its competitors, we are given the option of English or Italian with English subtitles. There are several extras including director’s bio and filmography, and a still gallery with some behind the scenes shots. There is also a short documentary about the film with discussion by many participants, but unfortunately it is not subtitled in English. Honestly, that’s the only complaint I have about the disc.

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Recommended? Highly, to everyone who likes crazy 70’s Italian action films, or gritty 70’s crime cinema and action in general

If you like this, you might like: The Warriors, Milan Caliber 9, Violent Naples, Dirty Harry, The French Connection, Vanishing Point

© David Austin