No Way Out

The Eurocrime subgenre was quite popular in the late 60s & early 70s. But in all honesty most of them are cheap and badly made films. Tony Arzenta (Big Guns) is, despite its terrible title, a positive exception. And that is for three reasons: a cool Delon performance, a superb soundtrack and a great 70s atmosphere. The action is not bad, the story is the most standard story out there (former hitman takes revenge on his old employers for killing his family) and the acting is wooden at its best. But there is something about this film that makes it better than most of its fellow Eurocrime flicks.

The explosive, sharp-shooting underworld thriller, 'Tony Arzenta' remains an absorbingly gritty Euro-crime classic from expert genre director, Duccio 'Puzzle' Tessari. There's simply no earthly good reason why this uncommonly adrenalizing 70s revenger shouldn't be mentioned in the very same J&B bated breath as cult favourites, 'High Crime', 'Violent Professionals', or 'Violent Rome' as,'Big Guns' high caliber poliziotteschi, and in some specifically groovy sequences, Duccio Tessari's Teflon tuff, well oiled shoot' em up teasingly usurps them!

Employing the reserved, Martini-cool Gallic master of Alpha understatement, Alain Delon as grieving, pitilessly vengeful, Tony is a casting coup; the frosty-eyed, whippet-lean, enigmatic arbiter of righteous retribution, blazes his balletic trail of brutal revenge deep into the ruinous underbelly of the Cosa Nostra remains a gloriously cathartic experience! I readily admit that the unspectacular premise of a weary hit man striving to break free from the mafia's mercenary clutches is a well-thumbed conceit; but when said coda is so rigorously reinterpreted by the uncommonly talented duo of Delon/Tessari, and throbbingly propelled by a truly lovely, heart-skippingly sexy score from gifted sound-wrangler, Gianni Ferrio, any hint of formula is resolutely quashed beneath Big Gun's stylish torrent of cinematic savvy, and the electrifying charisma of the polo necked prince of retro killer chic, Alain Delon, makes resistance nigh on useless!

Poliziottesco in a class of its own with Alain Delon and Richard Conte

A few years after "Gli bastardi" with Giuliano Gemma and Klaus Kinski and a year before "Uomo senza memoria" with Senta Berger and Luc Merenda, Duccio Tessari directed this mercilessly straightforward crime film that cools down the Italian mafia landscape with a few ice cubes of French existentialism . Excellently produced by Luciano Martino, the film grossed ITL 1.945 billion at the Italian box office.

Tony Arzenta (Alain Delon) lives as a contract killer in Milan and wants to retire to have more time for his wife (Nicoletta Macchiavelli) and child. The bosses aren't having it and are trying to snuff out Tony's life. This is going wrong! Instead, his wife and son die cruelly. Now Tony goes into hiding and takes cruel revenge on all bosses and accomplices. Really beautiful in the Ice Cold Angel style! This also goes to Germany and Denmark. At some point, Tony, who is supported by his friend Domenico Maggio (Marc Porel), gets fed up with murder. He wants to find peace in his home in Sicily. Then final boss Nick Gusto (Richard Conte) makes him a tempting offer...

This film features an array of stars from Italian genre cinema: Carla Gravina, Roger Hanin, Anton Diffring, Umberto Orsini, Silvano Tranquilli, Corrado Gaipa, Erika Blanc, Rosalba Neri, Ettore Manni and Loredana Nusciak are part of the cast. In addition to the Italian ambience, a touch of French touch is undeniable, but that also makes this film something special. Things are a little quieter, with long looks rather than fast car chases.

And then Golden Globe candidate (nominated in 1964 for "Il gattopardo") Alain Delon is simply in a class of his own. Seeing him in a Poliziottesco is simply worth a sighting.

Stylish, moody, innovative revenge-driven bloodbath. Also cheesy, of course, and sporadically very cheesy. It reminded me a lot of The Big Heat because it has the revenge plot set off by the exact same event, and the girl comes around to the good guy's side because of the same bad behavior by the bad guy. It's sad there's no Gloria Grahame but so fantastic that it's Alain Delon and not Glenn Ford. Could there be anyone as beautiful as Alain going around in a cashmere sweater and trenchcoat? Yet he's totally tough and icy cool. No one nowadays can touch him--though someone like Jude Law could try I guess. Hard for any girl to look good with him. The music was funky and perfect and there were several excellent car chases (and those aren't generally my cup of tea)--especially one willy nilly one in the woods. People also met their dooms in creative and bloody fashion, for instance in a junkyard cruncher. But beyond the cheese, the overall atmosphere was affecting and expertly pulled off. More creativity, excitement and freshness in that "forgotten" movie than most of what I've seen lately.

Hit man revenge film.

A hit man wants out of the mob. The mob double crosses him. He gets some revenge by killing most of those involved.

This film has some strong action scenes. Some good chases. Lots of shooting. It's all done rather well. The acting better than average across the board here.

However, I was not a fan of the ending. I won't spoil it here. You'll either love it or hate it or ...not care either way. I didn't like it. A better ending, and this one could have been something special.