Diamanti sporchi di sangue

A truly masterful and terrifically riveting 70s actioner from the rightfully lauded high-stylist of Italian genre cinema, Fernando Di Leo. 'Blood & Diamonds' is a definite keeper for both euro-crime junkies and lovers of dynamic, compellingly plot-heavy action thrillers. The brooding, charismatic Claudio Cassinelli delivers yet another immaculate performance, and uber-gorgeous gangster's moll, Barbara Bouchet is sweet enough to engender a diabetic swoon in even the most robust of males (or females, natch!). All of the gloriously unfiltered honour or death, macho slam-bang-gangster man, revenge-fuelled dynamism is excitingly punctuated by yet another blazing jazz-funk score from the supremely talented Luis Bacalov. A taut, melancholic, expertly crafted, diamond hard 70s poliziotteschi that is most certainly ripe for re-discovery.

A bottle of J&B Whiskey on the table in the first shot already? Yup, you're watching a Fernando Di Leo movie! This man remains forever on my hero list for making several of the most genius Poliziotesschi thrillers ever made. Nobody - not even other genre deities like Umberto Lenzi or Stelvio Massi - made Italian cop/crime thrillers as relentlessly brutal and as uncompromisingly violent as Di Leo. His triple feature "Milano Caliber .9", "The Italian Connection", and "The Boss" are the best of the best, and several other titles (like "Kidnap Syndicate" and "Shoot First, Die Later") are perplexing films.

"Blood and Diamonds" is also really, really good. Unfortunately, I can't reward it with a rating 9 or 10, because it didn't provide me with the same adrenalin rush or sentiments of excitement as any of the titles mentioned in the previous paragraph, but it's a fantastic thriller from start to finish.

Claudio Cassinelli is sublime as the out-for-vengeance thief who walks through the entire film with a face as angry as a thundercloud! Of course, Guido doesn't have much to smile about. He just spent five long years in prison because he got snitched to the police during his last heist, and he's barely released, or two hired punks rob the bus he's on and mercilessly kill his beloved wife. Guido is convinced that big-shot mafia boss Rizzo is behind all of it and swears to kill him. Meanwhile, Guido's stepson and his feisty girlfriend are planning a diamond heist at the airport, and Guido inevitably gets sucked in.

Di Leo's screenplay is once again very tense, convincing, absorbing, and holding a surprise or two in store. The action is harsh and gritty, with stone cold executions and heists ending in bloodbaths, the direction is tight & surefooted, the soundtrack (by master-composer Luis Bacalov) is exquisite, and the décors and filming locations bring the awesome 70s back to life. But the most impressive quality of "Blood and Diamonds", though, is the great casting choices and ditto performances.

Cassinelli outshines his Poliziotesschi competitors (notably Maurizio Merli and Luc Merenda) on every level with his depiction of embittered, soulless, and infuriated ex-con/thief. Cassinelli starred in too many Italian cult movies to list, but never received the recognition and praise he deserved. He also died too young, in a helicopter crash whilst filming "Atomic Cyborg" in 1986. Martin Balsam portrays godfather Rizzo, and he's great as always, but there are two other performances I'd like to put in the spotlights. First, the ravishing Barbara Bouchet to prove that diamonds are a girl's best friend. Barbara lies, manipulates, strip-dances, and gets slapped in the pretty face. That woman seriously took a lot of beatings in her career. Last, certainly not least, I just must mention Pier Paolo Capponi as Rizzo's psychotic henchman Tony. Usually Capponi plays police inspectors, but he obviously had a blast of a time here as the lunatic.

Fernando Di Leo gets a lot of harsh criticism, but in my opinion; he's been behind some of the very burst Polizi flicks to come out of Italy, in particular The Italian Connection and Milano Calibre 9. On the strength of this film, however, you would be forgiven for thinking he's more than just a little bit sub-par as despite some truly excellent action scenes; Blood and Diamonds is not a completely successful film, and a lot of that is down to the fact that the plot doesn't flow too well and the film constantly fluctuates between exciting and boring. The plot focuses on a man named Guido who goes down for robbery. He is released several years later and gets picked up by his girlfriend. They decide to take the bus, and it turns out to be a bad decision as the bus comes under attack by a gang of thugs and despite the heroic ex-convict jumping the rescue of his fellow passengers; it doesn't stop the thugs from murdering his girlfriend. Guido begins to suspect that the murder may have some connection from his time inside and resolves to get to the bottom of it.

The opening is actually pretty good and makes you think you might be in for another excellent thrill ride, but unfortunately the bus sequence is never matched until the very end and by then it's too little too late. Prolific Italian actor Claudio Cassinelli takes the lead role and does a fairly good job with it, although he's not charismatic enough to lead the film on his own. His two main co-stars stand out more than he does, and the beautiful Barbara Bouchet as well as American actor Martin Balsam deliver great supporting performances. There's not a great deal of thrills during the middle of the film, which is a shame as this type of film is famed for shootouts and car chases; only an indoor fist fight is really memorable. Thankfully the plot does start to thicken as the film moves into the final third, although we are never really given a good reason to care for the lead character and so his plight is not all that interesting - that being said, the ending itself is better than the vast majority of what came before it. Overall, Blood and Diamonds is not a must see Polizi flick and I would only recommend it to hardened fans of the genre.

Laudio Cassanelli is a safe breaker out for one last job when some fink snitches on him. His partner Marco manages to get away, but Claudio himself is banged up for five years. Not only that, when gets out two masked gunman attack the bus he's on and his girlfriend Olga Karlatos is shot in the back. Claudio kills the two bad guys so he's still winning by this point if you're keeping score.

In a permanent bad mood for the entire film, Claudio blames everything on local gangster Rizzo (played immaculately by Martin Balsam as usual). The cops tend to agree with Claudio, but when a crooked cop passes this information on to Rizzo, he sends his right hand man Pier Paolo Capponi to put the squeeze on him.

Further compounding Claudio's low mood and lack of sleep is Olga's son Enzo, who hates him because he got his mother killed. I might have missed it but I think Claudio used to go out with Enzo's girl Barbara Bouchet, who seems to be trying to force Enzo's hand in arranging a big score for a huge amount of diamonds.

That's a lot of plot but it all serves to make Claudio madder and madder until he's striking back at Rizzo, folks are getting plugged left right and centre, and a few twists throw everything up in the air for a remarkable ending.

I'm a big fan of Claudio Cassanelli - he's does moody very well (to be honest I've not seen him do comedy...maybe he was just like that). Martin Balsam, once again, just knocks it out of the park as Rizzo. He constantly shows Claudio respect even though all Claudio does is threaten to kill him and shames him in front of his men. This gives the ending even more clout as Rizzo and Claudio seem to share a father/son bond that Claudio can't find with Enzo. It's unusual to say the least.

Best bit was when Claudio and Pier Paolo Capponi have a violent fight to the death in Barbara Bouchet's house, using all that kitsch seventies decor to try and kill each other. Also of note was the soundtrack, which you'll know as 'that tune Bruno Mattei nicked for Zombie Creeping Flesh'.

Disappointing late entry into the De Leo poliziotesschi canon. An at best functional (but not compelling) plot, low budget, lacking style or swagger, with fairly restrained content and an awful lot of incredibly poor acting give this the feel of a watered down "made for TV" version of his much better early 70s outings.

Worth watching if you're an Italian crime film completist. Otherwise give it a miss.