Comeuppance Reviews Set in Palermo, Sicily, Il Boss is the third of Fernando Di Leo's trilogy (known as the "Milieu Trilogy") which includes Milano Calibro 9 and The Italian Connection. Here, Henry Silva plays Lanzetta, a cold blooded and, some might say, expressionless hit man working for mob boss D'Aniello (Nicastro). Lanzetta manages a "wipeout" of an entire mafia family...except one, a guy named Cocchi (Capponi). Cocchi is bewildered and wants revenge. Hence, they kidnap D'Aniello's daughter Rina (Santilli). Police Commissario Torri (Garko) is trying to get to the bottom of things but he just may have his own agenda - and yet another mob boss, Don Corrasco (Conte) seems to be running things, but is he? As all these various characters intertwine, what will become of them, and how will Lanzetta navigate these confusing and treacherous waters? Find out today! Il Boss is another winner from the amazingly talented Fernando Di Leo. Not wanting to ever repeat himself, this part of his trilogy is actually very different from the others. Not just that, it's very different from just about any Mafia movie out there. Because not only does it have the classic high-quality Di Leo shooting and editing, but it is also extremely well-written (if perhaps a tad over-written at times). It tackles social issues such as corruption, as well as another Di Leo trademark, the youth culture of the day. Starting with another absolutely killer opening sequence, you are immediately sucked into this world and it's very effective.Henry Silva (or, more accurately, Lanzetta) isn't your average hit-man. Usually they use pistols with silencers so no one knows they were there. Lanzetta clearly doesn't care, as he uses a grenade launcher! Silva with a grenade launcher should be enough to recommend this movie right there. But while the violence intermixes with the serious-minded issues at work, we felt the movie was most effective during the scenes of mob violence set to Bacalov's amazing score. Bacalov's score absolutely rules here. He's a musical genius that's made a career out of excellent scores, but he outdoes himself this time. Taking his cues from the Italian prog movement that was huge at the time, Bacalov knocks this score out of the park. It gives you that intense feeling that the movie is working on all cylinders.Di Leo's movies are so impactful because of a combination of technical mastery, music choices and social and psychological insights. This manifests itself especially interestingly in Il Boss with the Santilli's Rina character. So Di Leo's movies have withstood the test of time far better than a lot of his contemporaries. That being said, this movie is kind of talky at times and is arguably the weakest of the trilogy, but it's still a good movie that's well worth seeing.Plus you have to see the Raro DVD. I (Brett) originally saw this movie on the VHS release by 3 Star Home Video. The Raro DVD not only is widescreen with subtitles, I believe it's significantly longer, at 112 minutes. The 3 Star tape obviously does not compare. There was another VHS release back in the day (also under the name Wipeout) but I'm not sure of the label. But it's a moot point, as this DVD is the clear choice for collectors and viewers.Il Boss is the Mafia movie done right, and it should be seen.

Woodyanders Rugged and vindictive gang leader Cocchi (surperbly played with live-wire brio by Pier Paolo Caprioli) survives a bombing at a movie theater and vows revenge on both cold, ruthless hit-man Nick Lanzetta (a deliciously vicious and remote portrayal by Henry Silva) and steely, formidable Don Carrasco (a fine performance by Richard Conte). This sets off a chain of violence which threatens to destroy everyone involved in this fierce dispute between two warring rival Mafia factions. Writer/director Fernando Di Leo once again proves that he was one of the most capable and underrated filmmakers to ever work in the Italian crime thriller genre: the hard, gritty and uncompromising tone never gets remotely silly or sappy, the outbursts of raw brutality are truly jarring, the action set pieces are staged with considerable skill and flair (the bombing which opens the picture is especially exciting), the surprise ending is quite powerful, and there's a pleasing amount of tasty sex and yummy female nudity to further spice up the already engrossing proceedings. Moreover, we even get some pointed social criticism about prejudice against non-Sicilians in the Italian mob and how the lack of order and discipline creates chaos within the Mafia. The super acting from the top-rate cast also warrants praise: veteran supporting bad guy thespian Silva excels in a rare substantial lead, Gianni Garko marvelously snivels it up as wormy corrupt cop Commisario Torri, Claudio Nicastro does well as the excitable Don Giuseppe D'Aniello, and the lovely Antonia Santilli steams up the screen with her sizzling turn as D'Aniello's jaded, yet alluring junkie whore daughter Rina. Franco Villa's crisp cinematography gives the film an attractive glossy look. Luis Enriquez Bacalov's groovy, moody, syncopated score totally hits the funky pulsating spot. A bit too talky and a tad sluggish in spots, but overall a most worthy item.

zardoz-13 "Mister Scarface" director Fernando Di Leo has a high-ranking Italian police official compare Mafia gang wars with the Vietnam War in "The Boss," the final explosive chapter of his "Milieu Trilogy" that began with "Caliber 9" (1972), aka "Milano calibro 9" (1972) with Frank Wolff and followed with "Manhunt" aka "La Mala ordina, " (1972) co-starring Henry Silva and Woody Strode. If you're looking for no-holds-barred violence on a grand scale, "The Boss" antes up more than enough mayhem and murder during its 100 minute running time to satisfy your thirst for blood. Skull-faced heavy Henry Silva delivers another monosyllabic performance as a cold-blooded Mafia executioner. Veteran Hollywood star Richard Conte lends strong support as the top-most Mafia chieftain."The Boss" covers several weeks of action. It begins inconspicuously enough with a guy carrying a package under his arm who enters an anonymous building. Di Leo shrouds this uneventful activity with composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov's slightly paranoid jazz soundtrack and create a modicum of tension. An entirely different guy in a red shirt delivers a film reel to the projectionist upstairs so we now know that the building houses a movie theater. Downstairs, a well-dressed, loud-talking mobster leads a group of mobsters in business suits into an auditorium. He proclaims that they are about to watch a Danish porn movie with "the best looking broads in the world." Meanwhile, the man with the package, Nick Lanzetta (Henry Silva of "Ocean's 11"), relieves the projectionist of his duties, clobbers him over the head, and get him out of his way. Nick assembles a rifle with a grenade launcher. He turns the auditorium where the mobsters are sawing the porn movie into a inferno. The implicit message that pornographic films are bad for you is unmistakable.Commissioner Torri (Gianni Garko of "Bad Man's River") runs the Mafia types out of the police morgue where the charred remains of the burned bodies lay on slabs. Torri explains his theory to his boss, Il Questore (Vittorio Caprioli of "Mister Scarface"), that the government is to blame for the bloodshed. "It's the fault of the government," Torri argues, "The results of a policy that is a failure. Since the government forced the old bosses into exile, their families have been left fighting for position. That results in complete disorder. All your newer families begin to feel impatient—I'm talking about the oldest ones they suddenly get the ideas that they can start grabbing for power because their own coppo was around to keep it under control." Torri argues that everything is liable to explode if they don't bring back the old dons. Tension exists between Torri and Il Questore because the latter knows that the former receives bribes from the Mafia. Il Questore cannot make any charges stick against Torri and he cannot transfer him out of his department.The massacre in the movie theatre was triggered when an outsider, Cocchi, (Pier Paolo Capponi of "My Name is Pecos"), who is not a Sicilian, wanted to get into the family. Cocchi wants to deal in drugs. Don Corrasco (Richard Conte of "The Violent Professionals") doesn't want drugs in Sicily. Hmn, sounds like "The Godfather." Anyway, Do Corrasco refuses to have anybody in his family that has survived for 40 years who isn't a Sicilian. Fifteen minutes later in the movie, the remaining members of the crime family that Nick wiped out in the porn movie abducts the daughter, Rina Daniello (Antonia Santilli), of Don Giuseppe Daniello (Claudio Nicastro of "A Man Called Magnum), who set Nick on them. The abductors specify their demands: "We don't want money and we don't want the girl. Nothing is going to happen to her, if we can have you, your life for hers. We figure that's a fair exchange." Meanwhile, Cocchi's perverted hoodlums ply poor Rina with liquor and rape her with gleeful abandon.The Don refuses to let Don Giuseppe exchange himself for his daughter. "They would torture you first, would just kill you, they would torture you first. They'd eventually make you tell them who the family contacts are. I'm not thinking of myself but the family it existed for forty years, Giuseppe. We've built it up and defended it together. Nothing is yours not when it interferes with the family." Nick suggests that they offer Cocchi money to stall for time. He insists also that they tell the kidnappers that Don Giuseppe has suffered a heart attack.When Don Giuseppe wants to buy his daughter back without Don Corrasco's permission, Nick shoots Giuseppe and has his body cremated. Nick is an orphan who Don Giuseppe Daniello was raised as his own son, but he has no qualms about killing Giuseppe and Giuseppe's right-hand man. Nick arranges a deal with another gangster, the brother of the Mafia chieftain that he exterminated in the movie theatre. The guy reveals the whereabouts of Rina. Single-handedly, Silva rescues her as two thugs are raping her and kills them without a qualm. He drives through a wall and smashes another car into three pieces.By this time, all the bloodshed has upset Mafia leaders in Rome. They want to see Cocchi and Don Corrasco strike a deal so the killing can stop. Don Corrasco dispatches Nick to finish off Cocchi's gang. The Mafia liaison from Rome urges Don Corrasco to eliminate Nick. According to Don Corrasco, Nick is a man of "infinite resource." Nevertheless, the Don arranges a deal with Torri to arrest Nick and find incriminating evidence that Nick was behind the movie theatre massacre. Torri confronts Nick at his apartment. Nick turns the tables on Torri and forces him at gunpoint to call up Cocchi and invite him to visit him."The Boss" chronicles one bloodbath after another with double-crosses galore in a Mafia power struggle over territory. This is one of the very best Mafia melodramas to come out of Italy.

Coventry The other reviewers are right. It may be an incredibly statement to make, especially since there are so many classic and legendary milestone titles in the genre, but "The Boss" may very well be one of the greatest mafia films ever made! This movie is strictly 100% hardcore-to-the-bone excitement, with ultra-sadistic characters, nasty double-crossings, merciless executions and explosive vendettas that require urgent and bloody settlements. There are no good or loyal characters in Fernando Di Leo's depiction of Palermo's mafia… There are only vicious and emotionless gangsters that would butcher their own parents in order to climb one small step up the Sicilian ladder of power & influence. Even the main character, flawlessly portrayed by Italian cult icon Henry Silva, is a totally relentless bastard that violates women and betrays his closest relatives in exchange for more money and power. Watching this film in all its gritty and violent glory, it's almost depressing to realize that large parts of the script were based on factual events as they occurred in crime-infested Italy during the early 70's. The DVD's commentary track even states that some of the situations were so damn realistic that director Di Leo and other members of the crew had to live with fear for acts of retribution by the local mafia. "The Boss" easily surpasses the status of entertainment and it's even more than just a cult film; this is essential revolutionary cinema! The movie opens insanely brilliant, with Sicilian mafia pawn Nick Lanzetta (Silva) executing most members of a rivaling clan inside a pornography theater. But he doesn't use normal artillery, oh no… He uses a genuine grenade-launcher which turns his targets into steaming little piles of humanoid waste! The pace naturally slows down a bit after this terrific intro, but the dialogs and the story remain utterly compelling and the cast of vile characters that gets introduced is nearly endless, including a sleazy attorney, a nymphomaniac crime lord's daughter and – my personal favorite - a sarcastically venting chief of police. Following the bloody massacre at the cinema, the last remaining leader of the other mafia family wants revenge and he kidnaps the only daughter of Don Giuseppe Daniello. Lanzetta is sent to free her, but treacherous deals are closed everywhere, even within the eminent Daniello family and with the local commissioner of police. The plot is – as usually the case in Italian cult cinema – very convoluted and occasionally difficult to follow, but the action sequences are delicious and several of the plot twists are unpredictable and downright shocking. Henry Silva is phenomenal in his role of relentless killer. His facial expressions never change (he never even smiles) and he's ultimately cruel and professional when it comes to doing his "job". Gianni Garko, playing the commissioner, is splendid as well, particularly when he aggressively shouts at the relatives of dead gangsters because their crying and mourning upsets him! How tactful! The music adds an even grimmer atmosphere to the story and the roughly edited cinematography makes the wholesome appear even more realistic. "The Boss" is the final entry in Fernando Di Leo's trilogy revolving on Italy's circle of organized crime, and the other two "Milano Calibre .9" and "Man Hunt" are supposed to be even better than this one. Personally I haven't seen them yet, but if the rumors are true then Di Leo deserves a statue for his accomplishments in cult cinema.