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June 17, 2006
Convoy Busters
Today marks one year since "Coffee Coffee and more Coffee" first was launched. First to be thanked is my significant other who encouraged me to write publicly and write often, did the work to create this site, and helped guide me in learning some of the technical aspects of running a blog site. I also want to that Joyce Shen of NoShame who put me on the screeners list before I even had the site up. I want to that the people who have taken the time to check in, whether to anonymously read or also leave comments, and engage in dialogue about film. Also, I want to thank those who have taken the time to create a link to this site. If I have failed to reciprocate please let me know and I will be glad to correct this as soon as possible.
Un Poliziotto Scomodo
Stelvio Massi - 1978
NoShame Films Region 1 DVD
The literal translation of the title for this Italian thriller is "The Inconvenient Cop". Whether this refers to the inconvenience created by the lead character of Inspector Olmi, or that Olmi seems to be out of place no matter where he is, I'm not sure. The title of Convoy Busters seems to have been chosen to capitalize on that brief moment when truckers with citizen band radios ruled popular culture. While trucks figure as a plot point, the most seen on the road are two - one following the other - as much of a convoy as one person following another is a parade.
Convoy Busters is a vehicle for Maurizio Merli, an actor who specialized in cop roles similar to Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry. Convoy Busters even ends with Inspector Olmi throwing down his badge at the end of the film. Essentially, Olmi is the kind of cop who makes a habit of getting on virtually everybody's bad side in the name of Justice. Frustrated with the bureaucracy of Rome, Olmi gets transfered to a small coastal town where he uncovers a smuggling operation involving firearms.
What Stelvio Massi's film lacks in coherent story telling it makes up for with bravura set pieces. One of the more spectacular scenes involves Olmi in a helicoptor chasing down and shooting some escaping bad guys with a pistol. That Olmi is such an accurate shot at great distances is hardly realistic, but it is a fun moment for the film.
The DVD supplements are primarily composed on interviews with Merli's son and several professional associates who discuss Merli's life and career. Merli was most famous in Italy during the Seventies for his resemblance to Franco Nero, and was typecast as the hard-edged cop. Rather than offering the usually scholarly notes on the film and crew, NoShame has included a small graphic novel, "Crime Story: The De Falco Solution", done in the style of Italian comic books from the Seventies.
Posted by Peter Nellhaus at June 17, 2006 12:20 AM
Comments
Congratulations on a very productive year! I recently realized I'd missed my own blog's first anniversary last week, but I'm glad to stop by in time to celebrate yours!
Posted by: Brian at June 17, 2006 06:55 PM
Congratulations, Peter, on reaching this first anniversary of CC&MC. And my best wishes for the year to come!
Cheers,
Tim / VW
Posted by: Tim Lucas at June 18, 2006 04:47 AM
Hi everybody, I'm a first time visitor, I was looking for some pics of "Un poliziotto scomodo" and I ran into this site. I appreciate it, and I'd like to comment on this movie, since I'm italian and I've been watching this kind of movies for years. First, let me point out something about the title of the movie, since an english-speaking person may be "lost in translation". "Un poliziotto scomodo" is a wordplay, since it refers both to the "inconveniency" of a cop who investigates on "untouchable" rich people and to his own inability to have a "normal" life. The first aspect of the cop's character emerges while he's in Rome investigating on a double murder related to some illegal traffic of diamonds. In the second part of the movie, when the cop moves to a small seaside town, he realizes his unease doesn't depend on the people he investigates on, but on the fact he is unfit to have a normal life. In spite of more than a plothole, it is a good movie, though I would recommend some other older crime movie, since this was shot in 1978 whereas the best movies of the genre date back to 1972-1976. I recommend, by the same director, 1974's "Squadra volante" (aka Emergency Squad). Anyway the milestones of the genre are, imho, the movies starring Tomas Milian (none of you would recognise him as General Salazar in Soderbergh's "Traffic") such as "Milano Calibro 9" (aka The Contract, 1972); "Milano trema, la polizia vuole giustizia" (aka Violent Professionals, 1973); "La polizia chiede aiuto", (aka Coed Murders, 1974); "Milano odia, la polizia non puņ sparare", (aka Almost Human, 1974); my all time favourite "A tutte le auto della polizia", (aka The Maniac Responsible, 1975); "Roma violenta" (aka Violent Rome, 1975 starring Maurizio Merli); his sequel "Napoli violenta" (aka Violent protection, 1976 starring Maurizio Merli).
Posted by: Mario at November 15, 2006 06:59 AM