Matar al testigo

Like the vast majority of the earth's population, yours truly is currently (May 2020) stuck in confinement at home due to a nasty new little virus called Corona. Also like most people, I'm often on the verge of going berserk, not being able to get out of the house and occasionally escape from (otherwise very lovable) wife and children. But, fortunately, I discovered a very effective method to release stress, and I would like to recommend it to as many people as possible! The secret to surviving this lockdown is reverting to the extreme violence and fast-paced action of the Italian Poliziotesschi from the 1970s, and then preferably those directed by Umberto Lenzi, since he was the undeniable master of this wonderfully twisted exploitation sub-genre.

By 1979, the release year of "From Corleone to Brooklyn", Lenzi had already made more than a dozen euro-crime thrillers, but still he always succeeded in making them refreshingly original, genuinely tense, extraordinary well-scripted and full of exhilarating stunt work. And even though Maurizio Merli never once played another role in his career, he still depicts the role of obsessive police captain with a tremendous amount of passion, energy and persuasion. In this awesome thrill-ride, police commissioner Giorgio Berni (Merli) must escort the apprehended hitman Scalia from Palermo to New York, in order to get him to testify against the fled mafia boss Michele Barresi. The film is called "From Corleone to Brooklyn", but it might as well have been named "Six Million Ways to Die on the Way to the Airport, and another Four Million Ways to Die from the Airport to the Courthouse". Barresi calls upon all his mafia connections to execute Scalia before reaching New York, and Cpt. Berni risks his life, and even that of his loved ones, numerous times to prevent these assassination attempts from happening.

There are several downright terrific sequences, like the virulent chase in the ultra-narrow streets of Palermo or the confrontation in the apartment block's basement, and the film also benefices from superior production values, a proper budget, a sublime soundtrack and a stellar supportive cast (including Van Johnson). Bring on the next confinement week!