Io ho paura

As to be expected, the beautifully acted, superbly immersive crime drama, 'Io ho paura' (1977) is yet another refined, strongly written, engagingly adult thriller from the hugely respected Italian auteur, Damiano Damiani, whose staggeringly classy output of immaculately made Gialli/poliziotteschi tends to focus intelligently on narrative nuance, probing deeper into character development, and moral complexities, rather than merely exploiting the more visceral approach of haymaker fisticuffs, car-carnage, and balletic blood spills to maintain the viewer's interest.

Disenfranchised, visibly shop-worn Bodyguard, Ludovico Graziano, played to perfection by the enormously charismatic actor, Gian Maria Volontè gradually finds his life spiralling into ever murkier, increasingly dangerous waters after fatefully accepting the far from routine position of bodyguard to Judge Cancedda (Erland Josephson). The internecine political squabbles eventually escalate to palpable life threatening dread whereby Graziano is forced to confront a truly terrifying reality! 'Io ho Paura' aka 'I am Afraid' (1977) is a damn fine motion picture, and one desperately in need of a brand-new restoration for a long overdue Blu-ray edition. It would be entirely remiss of me if I failed to mention the lushly appealing, extraordinarily effective, skin-caressingly lovely score by the incomparable music maestro, Riz Ortolani.

Damiano Damiani. The name will be best known to many for his lacklustre sequel to The Amityville Horror, and that's unfortunate because by far his best work was carried out in the seventies in the crime genre. The directors films could be said to be a part of the popular Polizi genre that was spawned in Italy after the release of Don Siegel's highly successful Dirty Harry; although Damiani's films often offer a lot more substance than the car chases and shootouts seen in films by directors such as Stelvio Massi and Fernando Di Leo, and this one is no exception. The film would appear to take more influence from The Godfather than anything else and the plot focuses on organised crime. The lead character is Ludovico Graziano; a man employed as a body guard for a successful judge. There is political unrest in the city and after the death (apparently suicide) of a man in prison, the judge and his bodyguard come across a secret courtesy of the dead man's wife and decide to try and do something about it, despite the fact that they are putting their lives on the line.

The film does have some action sequences and moments of suspense, but the focus of the film is clearly on the plot line and its implications. That is not to say that the film isn't exciting; there are several shootouts and car chases and the way that Damiani builds the atmosphere of mystery is excellently done in that it is always interesting. There also other things going on around the central plot, including the lead character's relationship with his girlfriend, which helps to build the plot and make the film more realistic. The acting is superb throughout and the film is lead by an excellent performance from Gian Maria Volontè who epitomises the title as he unwittingly finds out secrets that could lead to his death. The great Riz Ortolani provides the score which suits the film well also. The film pulls no punches throughout its running time and this stays true for the ending also; and while it is a hard ending, it suits the film well and Damiani couldn't have ended it any differently. Overall, this is an excellent example of the Italian crime thriller and comes highly recommended!

This film is Damiano Damiani's finest "mafia-film". He directed several movies of the crime-thriller-subgenre, which are all very interesting, but this one is a true masterpiece, with Gian Maria Volonté touchingly convincing as a policeman who uncovers corruption and begins to live in great fear for his life.

Mario Adorf is cool as always as a suspect attorney, and Damiani increases tension perfectly until the riveting climax. The realistic film is also very melancholy in a way, which makes it even more believable.

While Enzo G. Castellari's superb "La Polizia Incrimina, la Legge Assolve" is the crown of the Italian poliziotteschi (police thrillers) of the 1970s, this highly recommended film is the same for the Italian "mafia-film" of that period.

Worried about the rising level of violence on the streets of Rome a police officer gets a Job as the bodyguard to a judge. However a seemingly simple case of a fatal robbery embroils the police officer in a nightmare world of political terrorism and corruption involving members of the the Italian state's security service. Released in 1977 this political thriller from director Damiano Damiani is an intricately plotted tale of political intrigue and violence,corruption,and creeping paranoia, set in a world of'trust noone '. The screenplay by Nicola Badalucco and Damiani is reasonably engrossing (like Damiani's previous political thrillers of cops,corruption and crime).

I AM AFRAID tells the story of a bodyguard who, upon the assassination of the judge he was meant to protect, comes to find out that the new judge to whom he is assigned is corrupt with ties to the mafia and high places in the Italian government, and realizes that his own life is in danger.

70s paranoid thrillers and later movies made in their mold, such as Roman Polanski's THE GHOST WRITER (2010), are a favorite of mine. American audiences think mainly of US movies like THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974), THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR (1975), ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN (1976)-all excellent-which were inspired by the Watergate scandal.

But it turns out that sociopolitical turmoil in Europe in the late 60s and the 70s, and especially the fight in Italy against the mafia during that time, provided inspiration for some excellent films in this genre as well, and I AM AFRAID belongs to the very best examples of it.

There is an atmosphere of paranoia right from the first assassination scene a couple minutes in, and it rarely lets up. The movie does a fantastic job of allowing us to emphasize with the protagonist who, upon realization of the tangled web of darkness in which he was thrown, is nothing short of terrified. This is in no small part due to the performance of Gian Maria Volonte in the protagonist role.

The ominous drum motif supplemented with a wonderfully paranoid melody by Riz Ortolani does for this film what Bernard Herrmann's piercing string motif did for PSYCHO(1960) and John Williams' propulsive motif did for JAWS (1976).

The action scenes are beautifully staged, and story-wise, the film stands out not only for its originality and intricacy but also because it shows how the bodyguard uses his acumen to devise an ingenious yet credible way to at least attempt to save himself in the face of overwhelming forces of evil.

This is a perfectly crafted thriller by director Damiano Damiani and I recommend it highly to any fan of this genre.