Copkiller (1983)

Director:

Roberto Faenza

Writers:

Ennio De Concini (screenplay)
Roberto Faenza (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 March 1983 (Italy)

Genre:

Thriller

Tagline:

E' giovane, è ricco. Non lo fa per denaro.

Plot Keywords:

Giallo | Based On Novel

Cast

Harvey Keitel	...	Lt. Fred O'Connor
John Lydon	...	Leo Smith
Nicole Garcia	...	Lenore Carvo
Leonard Mann	...	Bob Carvo
Sylvia Sidney	...	Margaret Smith
Carla Romanelli
Nicola Cancellaro
Ettore Venturini
Antonio D'Acquisto
Benedetto Sestili
Giorgio Lucenti
Angelo Cecchetti
Nikolaus Moras
Bob Kelly
Tony Mayer

Also Known As:

Order of Death (Australia) (USA)
Cop Killers
Copkiller - l'assassino dei poliziotti (Italy)
Corrupt (USA) (reissue title)
Corrupt Lieutenant

Runtime:

117 min | USA:113 min

Country:

Italy

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | Italy:VM14 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Aura Film

Trivia:

Filmed in 1981, not released in the US until 1984.

CORRUPT (Roberto Faenza, 1983) **1/2

This very unconventional, Italian cop thriller (co-written by one of their most prolific and distinguished screenwriters, Ennio De Concini) stars Harvey Keitel (as a troubled NYC cop), John Lydon (formerly Johnny Rotten, lead singer with The Sex Pistols, as the copkiller of the original title), Leonard Mann (as Keitel's ill-fated partner) and Hollywood veteran Sylvia Sidney (as Lydon's rich grandmother).

Keitel is quite good, of course, but the real revelation here is Lydon who's particularly creepy as the geeky-looking, slyly taunting and evidently psychotic youth who, when he's not slitting other cops' throats, follows Keitel everywhere and even insinuates himself into his clandestine flat (which he shares with Mann!). Rather than arresting him after beating him up, Keitel chains Lydon in the bathroom (whereupon Sydney sets up a nationwide search for her beloved nephew) and keeps him there till almost the end of the picture...

To reveal more than I already did would spoil it for those who haven't watched it yet. Let's just say that there is no happy ending for the "good" guys. In fact, Keitel is no ordinary hero and, at times, he seems to be as in need of psychiatric treatment as much as Lydon! Besides the excellent performances, the film is aided by a sparse but evocative score by Ennio Morricone (with themes which recall THE MASTER TOUCH [1972] and even THE THING [1982] but also anticipate THE UNTOUCHABLES [1987]!). Where CORRUPT - the version I watched bore the title COP KILLERS (running 100 minutes against the 'official' 117!), which rather gives the game away - comes up short, in my view, is in Roberto Faenza's stolid direction which lazily resorts to close ups with a distracting regularity. Sure, a desired sense of claustrophobia is thus created but, unfortunately, it also gives the viewer an unshakeable sense of watching a TV cop show!

P.S. I've had the opportunity to catch this on Italian TV a number of times but that would have meant missing out on Keitel and Lydon's distinctive voices! Also, I've made no comparisons between Keitel's character here and that of another corrupt cop in the better-known BAD LIEUTENANT (1992) by Abel Ferrara for the simple reason that I've yet to catch up with that particular title in its entirety!