Rome: The Other Side of Violence

After COP HUNTER / ITALIA A MANO ARMATA, Italian director Marino GIROLAMI made another tough gangster film. And the result is really good. What's also interesting is that ROMA: ALTRA FACCIA DELLA VIOLENZA is the only Poliziottesco that a major Hollywood studio, 20TH CENTURY FOX, co-produced.

Horrible attacks occur in the Italian capital. Inspector Carli (Marcel BOZZUFFI), who has already lost several colleagues, is feverishly investigating. Even the smart businessman Dr. Alessi (Anthony STEFFEN) has his problems: he hasn't gotten along with his son Giorgio (Stefano PATRIZI) for a long time. And then this! His beloved daughter Carol (Roberta PALADINI) is cruelly shot during one of the robberies. Alessi does not agree at all with Carli's investigations, which focus primarily on the hotspot districts of Rome. The rich smartie investigates on his own and uncovers something astonishing: it is not the proletarian Berte (Franco CITTI) who seems to be responsible for the robberies, but a pale millionaire's son like Giulio Laurenti (Jean FAVRE)...

This film is pretty good. A villain is crushed by an approaching bus, causing his intestines to splatter. And a gang of rogues are seen brutally raping two young women, which is very eerily reminiscent of the infamous Circeo massacre of 1975. That has always been the strength of Italian gangster films, that references are made to real events and developments. This film skilfully alludes to the growing gap between the rich upper class, which has benefited from the Italian economic miracle since 1960, and the proletariat that remains behind in the suburbs. But what finally elevates this Poliziottesco above the average is the force of an almost Greek tragedy. But nothing more will be revealed!