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Powerful

Good concept, poorly executed.

Absolutely brilliant

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

So, you like post-modernism eh? Try this one out, a pseudo-documentary told in a fragmented fashion that kind of starts out describing crime throughout Milan, but then shows the aftermath of a botched robbery, then the events leading up to the robbery, then the robbery, then the aftermath again. Hell, it doesn't even start to have a plot until about twenty minutes in - that's how weirdly constructed this one is.You see, we follow Detective Tomas Milian as he uses documentary techniques to replay crimes that have happened in the past. At least I think that's what he says. We also get to see extortion rackets, gambling dens, and the burning of an escort girl before a robbery goes wrong and several innocent bystanders get whacked for their troubles (and this is where the story starts being coherent at all) - but who is behind these awful killings?Turns out the gang have struck seventeen times before, including three robberies in one day. This gang is led by smiling, overconfident Gian Maria Volonte, who gets very philosophical about things. He even has a cover story - he runs a legitimate business during the day with his other two gang members also attending as 'employees'. They also pick up a third member in the form of young Ray Lovelock who wants to escape his boring life. This is an odd take on the Euro-crime film, so cop Tomas Milian is basically pushed into the background to interrogate one of the robbers while the real emotional core of the film sits with Volonte, who loves his mamma and promises his wife the world, while being charming to his secretary (he gets her driving lessons) and nurturing the criminal career of Lovelock, all while laughing his head off about everything. We also spend a lot of time with character who have nothing to do with anything, like prank callers, and the escort girl from the start. The best part about the film is the big robbery, as the gang do a lot of groundwork before the actual robbery itself, and we are shown in great detail the lives of the innocent people just about to be caught up in a world of violence. In fact, this bit is carried out so well that the rest of the film just kind of runs down to a halt. Strange.You can see how this would have been an influence on Quentin Tarantino - the plot is all over the place, it's full of dialogue that has nothing to do with the plot, and it's rather violent. Just throw in Samual L Jackson, some funky music, and a fixation on the 'n' word and your good to go! For a very similar film, see Gangster's Law.

A hard boiled thriller that shoots itself in the foot by being far too hyperactive to be either cohesive or very satisfying. For the film's first quarter or so, director Carlo Lizzani pulls together what is essentially a docudrama on the crime wave hitting Milan in the mid to late 1960s. By the time the bandits (led by Gian Maria Volonté) appear, the viewer has already been assaulted by a blitz of sordid images ranging from riots to shootings to prostitution stings. Edited in such a high pitched staccato way, the film leaves one exhausted and, frankly, bored BEFORE the film proper even begins. Nevertheless, the acting is very good with Volonté giving an excellent performance as a degenerate crook passing himself off as morally high and mighty (the type of role Volonté mastered during his career...see INVESTIGATION OF A CITIZEN ABOVE SUSPICION or SLAP THE MONSTER ON PAGE ONE). Tomas Milian is the police commissioner and Carla Gravina, María Rosa Sclauzero (as Volonté secretary) and Ray Lovelock are in it too.

Viewers expecting conventional gangster shenanigans may find themselves bewildered by this frenetic, postmodern, documentary-styled study of four bank robbers terrorizing Milan. Graced with wit, wild violence, flashes of pop art sensibility, and wonderful music from Riz Ortolani, Bandits in Milan is a unique experience within the crime genre.Scene-eating star Gian Maria Volonte puts in a high energy madman performance as the leader of the gang of bandits, grinning and simpering megalomaniacally throughout (and particularly evil-sounding in the German-dubbed version, Die Banditen von Mailand). A young and innocent-looking Ray Lovelock (billed as "Raymond") also appears to good effect, as does low-key Tomas Milian as the ironic police commissioner.Artful and briskly paced, Bandits in Milan is a lot to absorb (particularly if, like me, you're reading subtitles) and merits multiple viewings. Devotees of art films and action alike are advised to give it at least one shot.

I don't include this movie in the 70s Italian crime films genre, since it is just a documentary narrating a true story. The people you see been shot (the man driving the truck, the kid exiting the subway station) were really killed the same way some months earlier in Milan's streets. The film narrates the robbery that took place in a Milan's bank in the fall of 1967, and was realized following the public shock that the whole story generated. That afternoon you could really see an high speed pursuit, with the criminals intentionally shooting innocent people on the street to convince police to stop the chase. I really liked this movie, for the ability of the director of depicting either the mere facts and the mentality of the bandits. Plus, Gian Maria Volonté is so good in portraying the rich criminal guy, who robs banks to "exit the mass". Some dialogs are in the Turin dialect, a northern dialect hard to understand for those like me who come from another region of Italy. Very interesting the way the main characters call the Police: "la Madama" (the Lady), again a northern expression.