Confessions of a Police Captain (1971)

One of the first films about the mafia occurrence, in which the fight is hopeless, because "the polyp's feeler" reaches everything and everybody. A police inspector and a deputy public ... See full summary »

Director:

Damiano Damiani

Writers:

Damiano Damiani (story), Fulvio Gicca Palli (story)

Stars:

Franco Nero, Martin Balsam, Marilù Tolo

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Franco Nero	...	Deputy D.A. Traini
Martin Balsam	...	Commissario Giacomo Bonavia
Marilù Tolo	...	Serena Li Puma
Claudio Gora	...	District Attorney Malta
Luciano Catenacci	...	Ferdinando Lomunno (as Luciano Lorcas)
Giancarlo Prete	...	Giampaolo Rizzo
Arturo Dominici	...	Lawyer Canistraro
Michele Gammino	...	Gammino
Adolfo Lastretti	...	Michele Li Puma
Nello Pazzafini	...	Prisoner
Calisto Calisti	...	A mafioso, e.g. involved in wall in
Wanda Vismara	...	Traini's maid
Adele Modica	...	Lina Paladino - lover of Bonavia
Dante Cleri	...	Usher
Roy Bosier	...	Giuseppe Lasciatelli

Storyline

One of the first films about the mafia occurrence, in which the fight is hopeless, because "the polyp's feeler" reaches everything and everybody. A police inspector and a deputy public prosecutor try to prove that the architect in the city is in the mafia.

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Plot Keywords:

poliziottesco | italy | years of lead | police abuse | police corruption | 

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Taglines:

He cut the red tape and left it full of bullet holes!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Italy

Language:

Italian

Release Date:

26 March 1971 (Italy)

Also Known As:

Confessions of a Police Captain

Filming Locations:

Grand-Hotel Villa Igiea, Salita Belmonte, Palermo, Sicily, Italy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Euro International Film (EIA), Explorer Film '58

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ben Gazzara was approached to play Commmissario Bonavia, but turned said offer down.

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Crazy Credits

Permission to shoot in the Basile Room was graciously offered by the Grand-Hotel Villa Igiea of Palermo

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Connections

Edited into Lo schermo a tre punte (1995)

User Reviews

Highly intense and intriguing Poliziesco film with a good cast who gives a fine performance

"Confessione Di Un Commissario Polizia Al Procuratore Della Repubblica" , Italian original title , or "Confessions of a Police Captain" , USA title , results to be a nice cop/political thriller , being professionally filmed and rightly made . It's a hard boiled movie that packs a noir story , police procedural , intrigue , detective inquiries , and a final twist in the plot. It deals with a pair of proverbial honest men , a stiff ,idealistic judge (Franco Nero) and an upright cop (Martin Balsam) who contend dangerous enemies , but determined in their will to fight crime and corruption . Both of whom on the edge while investigate ties between the mob , the Mayor , councillors and Justice department . But ambition , blackmail , vendetta , kidnapping and decay reach everything and everybody .

This exciting and thought-provoking Italian cop thriller turns out to be one of the first and best films about the mafia . This heavy-going tale has an interesting and politically incorrect writing by the same director Damiano Damiani & Fulvio Gicca Palli and especially dealing with corruption interwoven between town councillors and Mafia . The picture displays action , thrills , disturbing issues , suspenseful , great visual style and is pretty entertaining , though sometimes is hard to follow . Excellent main cast as Martin Balsam as a rough-and-ready police inspector and Franco Nero as a deputy public prosecutor who attempts to prove that the architect in the city is in the mafia and holding a firm belief in the law and justice system . Both of them face on Mafia which the fight is hopeless . However Martin Balsam steals the show as a dedicated police captain what tries to wipe out the bureaucratic corruption that is infecting his city . Supporting cast is frankly magnificent such as Claudio Gora , Arturo Dominici , Giancarlo Priete or Timothy Brent , gorgeous Marilu Tolo and a brief intervention by Nello Pazzafini as a Prisoner . Colorful and appropriate cinematography by Claudio Ragona . Sensitive as well as thrilling musical score by Riz Ortolani who composed an enjoyable soundtrack in Ennio Morricone style .

The motion picture was well directed by Damiano Damiani . He's an expert on all kind of genres as Drama (¨Arthur's island¨ , ¨The Most Beautiful Wife" , ¨The witch¨ , and ¨Empty canvas¨ based on the Alberto Moravia novel) , Terror (Amytiville 2 : the possession) , Historical (¨The Inquiry¨) , Spaghetti Western (¨Trinity is back again¨and the prestigious ¨A bullet for the General¨) . Damiani was specialized on crime-thriller-Subgenre or Italian cop thriller ( ¨How to kill a judge¨, ¨The case is closed , forget it¨, "Goodbye e amen" , ¨Mafia¨, "I Am Afraid" and ¨Warning¨ also starred by Martin Balsam) . ¨Confessions of a Police captain¨ seems to be a ¨must see¨ for the Poliziesco fans . This is one of the crowns of the Italian Poliziotteschi (police thrillers) of the 1970s , along with other films directed by Enzo G . Castellari , Ferdinando Baldi or Umberto Lenzi . Rating : Better than average . Essential and indispensable watching , this highly recommended film is the same for the Italian "mafia-film" of that period.