Almost Human (Milano Odia : La Polizia Non Puo Sparare). by Umberto Lenzi (1974).

Like (it seems) everyone involved in genre-based European cinema, Lenzi has been incredibly prolific. Turning his hand to just about everything he could possibly get his hands on, he isn't the hack that you might expect a jobbing Director to be, but instead someone who has great individuality and style coupled with a very solid and interesting capability to create key moments within his chosen area.

By this time, 1974, Lenzi had been making films for just over 15 years and primarily found favour in the 70s and early 80s with Giallo, Horror, Cannibal and Action movies. Sure, everything varies in quality when you have such a huge output - but I am attracted to such people as when it hits the mark it works superbly. 'Almost Human' is my first viewing of a popular genre which has a cult following, the Polizia (Police) movie, and it's a very solid and stylish little movie.

The Genre :

As popular but not as well represented on DVD (particularly in the USA, most discs are Italian it seems) as Giallo movies, there's something here that gave Cinematic thrills to audiences on a very regular basis at one time. Now, like many genres that can have films made for relatively little money, TV shows with similar content are made today as they would have been back then, and I can't help but feel it would take a fan who regularly watches such movies to truly appreciate such a piece of work. I still haven't found a beginners guide to Polizia movies anywhere.

If you were living in a time where independant cinemas regularly shifted movies like this onto the screen, and having it as something from your own culture, with its own boundaries of taste and decency, I am sure it would directly make for a more acceptable film. As it is, viewing something like comes from a place that's relatively distant in time and place - and because there's relatively few examples of such movies (and particularly information about them) online, I can imagine it being viewed from a 'cult movie' perspective more than anything else. This isn't a specific quible with this film or genre, but a warning that this isn't the sort of thing that would suit everyone - but it is certainly something which could open many peoples eyes to something new.

The Story :

Giulio Sacchi (Tomas Milan) is a low life criminal. Marginalised and desperate for the good life, without signing his life away to a 9 to 5 job, he dreams beyond his capabilities even as a criminal and aims to do bigger jobs for more cash. Instantly setting himself out on a dangerous path, with twisted logic and rogueish charm at his disposal, his decends into an ever-increasing path of destruction. Murder, rape, theft are all in there - all done in suitably extreme and reasonably questionable european style. Key to the film is the increasing body count, the dialogue that attempts to persuade you to believing (somehow) that Sacchis logic is actually correct. It is of course nothing more than a device, but a very powerful one.

Dragged along for the ride are his hard working girlfriend Iona Tucci (Anita Strinberg), a select band of sidekicks (Vitorio and Carmine) with clashing personalities (strong silent type and boyish / naive), plus the solid and determined Detective (Inspector Walter Grandi - Henry Silva) in charge of solving the series of crimes that Sacchi has yet to be successfully connected with. Milan, Strinberg and Silva are all suitably good looking for such movies, and present very solid acting abilities.

Very convincing and well cast, they all hold the films narrative together. Fulcis Directing is very stylish, not as loose as his films can often be, and the shots are smartly chosen and visually rich. This helps take what could be a familiar style of story into the realms of individuality, making it strangely intrigueing. Like Giallo movies, things are intentionally never settled until the final moments. There's a stunnign ending to the film that's a great payoff.

The Disc :

Another apparently faultless master, with rich colors and no scratches. It's one of those films on DVD that looks younger than it actually is, and its things like the clothes and cars (amongst many things) that give away the truth; the films over 30 years old. There are a couple of brief gaps in the print causing very slight and momentary jumps within a scene. Hopefully there are no technical subtleties that let the disc down. It expected that theres only limited work you can do with a small budget movie. The print is uncensored, giving as good a representation of this film as I can imagine possible.

There's an Italian track on there, dubbed over after filming as is often the case - it's something I am particularly keen on as it adds to the unreal qualities of such odd films. An English Dub, probably for curiosity value, is also provided. Extras are the usual suspects : trailers, pictures - plus two reasonably lengthy and insightful interviews with many of the people involved. All adds up to provide a very lucid and detailed recollection of memories that flesh out the production and the genre in general.

The Subtitles :

Tightly spaced and perfectly timed, the subs on the disc are seemingly literally translated. This rarely jars with true English grammar, and is far preferable to the 'interpretation' technique often employed by people translating films for English Speaking audiences. Probably amongst the best examples of subtitling I've experienced. Couple of spelling errors in there (literally), but overal at least I get the sense that everythings as it should be, rather that strangely unsure as to wether there's unintentional or purposeful censorship in there.

Overall :

Can't help but end watching this movie feeling like I've seen a modern day Spaghetti Western. It goes beyond the inclusion of a Morricone soundtrack, or the Italian dubbed dialogue - there's character types, relationships, story structures that all feel very like that other genre. dialogue is much faster in this, and the films very fastly cut - but the dominating or key factors are all reminders of something else. The cinematography is reminiscent too. Very much like a downbeat drama, a film noir or similar, this must be a genre with potentially better example - but as it is, this is a superb little film. Nothing particularly large scale or comparable to anything Hollywood turns out, but within popular European cinema this is a superb piece of work. Best thing I've seen by Lenzi.