cjfoulke This is an entertaining Italian crime drama from 1968 starring the excellent Gian Maria Volonte (bad guy in A Fistful Of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More) as the intelligent and increasingly hubristic leader of a gang of bank-robbers. The first ten minutes are pretty misleading, making it appear like this is going to be a light, even campy affair more in line with Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik! than the serious crime drama it turns out to be. But once the gang's driver is rescued from an angry mob and interrogated by Tomas Milian we get down to business. This overlooked little Italian gem does a number of firsts from what I can tell and anyone who knows better is free to correct me. First, is the use of pop music throughout the film. It has instrumental tracks but the pop tunes are fairly ubiquitous in a way they were not in any other crime movie from that time or before. Secondly, there is the realistic planning and casing for one of the robberies, not the amusing fantasy plotting of the Italian Job, Topkapi, or Ocean's 11. Thirdly, there is a full speed, bullet flying car chase through the urban environment of Milan without any use of back screen, sped up film, or any other tricks still prevalent in Hollywood films from the period. It's all fast driving and editing. Last but definitely not least is the gritty cinema verite photography that is stamped all over later films like The French Connection and The Seven Ups. Having watched this, it's pretty obvious to me that the young film school turks like William Friedkin and Martin Scorcese (a self-admitted Italian film fanatic and preservationist) saw this movie when it was first released in the U.S. That makes Bandits In Milan a.k.a. The Violent Four a must see for film and 1970's crime drama buffs. I found it at Netflix but only for streaming which was unfortunate as I had to watch it on my laptop. Still glad I did.

R C Viewers expecting conventional gangster shenanigans may find themselves bewildered by this frenetic, postmodern, documentary-styled study of four bank robbers terrorizing Milan. Graced with wit, wild violence, flashes of pop art sensibility, and wonderful music from Riz Ortolani, Bandits in Milan is a unique experience within the crime genre.Scene-eating star Gian Maria Volonte puts in a high energy madman performance as the leader of the gang of bandits, grinning and simpering megalomaniacally throughout (and particularly evil-sounding in the German-dubbed version, Die Banditen von Mailand). A young and innocent-looking Ray Lovelock (billed as "Raymond") also appears to good effect, as does low-key Tomas Milian as the ironic police commissioner.Artful and briskly paced, Bandits in Milan is a lot to absorb (particularly if, like me, you're reading subtitles) and merits multiple viewings. Devotees of art films and action alike are advised to give it at least one shot.

alby73 I don't include this movie in the 70s Italian crime films genre, since it is just a documentary narrating a true story. The people you see been shot (the man driving the truck, the kid exiting the subway station) were really killed the same way some months earlier in Milan's streets. The film narrates the robbery that took place in a Milan's bank in the fall of 1967, and was realized following the public shock that the whole story generated. That afternoon you could really see an high speed pursuit, with the criminals intentionally shooting innocent people on the street to convince police to stop the chase. I really liked this movie, for the ability of the director of depicting either the mere facts and the mentality of the bandits. Plus, Gian Maria Volonté is so good in portraying the rich criminal guy, who robs banks to "exit the mass". Some dialogs are in the Turin dialect, a northern dialect hard to understand for those like me who come from another region of Italy. Very interesting the way the main characters call the Police: "la Madama" (the Lady), again a northern expression.

django-1 First of all, my review is of the English-dubbed version of this film, released briefly in the US by Paramount. I have a feeling that some of the subtleties of the Italian original were lost, especially in some of the initial scenes where Tomas Milian's character is being interviewed by a journalist. This film is quite in demand, due to it being directed by the legendary Carlo "Crazy Joe" Lizzani, and the action scenes are handled well as one would expect (the scene where the robbers, under the leadership of Gian Maria Volonte, shoot at civilians to get Milian's police to stop chasing them was truly shocking), but I would not put this in the top tier of Italian crime films, although it should get some bonus points for predating the classic wave of 70s Italian crime films. Those expecting an over-the-top Milian performance will be let down, as he is given "guest star" billing, and he is basically in the handsome leading man mold here, puffing a cigarette through a cigarette holder and looking in charge, but Volonte is the real star here, as well as the young Ray Lovelock, who does a great job as a teen with a taste for "success" who allows himself to be sucked into the world of crime. Margaret Lee's role is not major, and those expecting a meaty role from this great seductress will also be let down. I see that this film received a number of awards upon its release--it must have lost something in the dubbing, as it's competent and has interesting elements, but is nowhere near the level of something like, say, CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN or about two dozen others I could name. The completist should probably own this, but I wouldn't spend a lot of time or money tracking down a copy. Finally, the ending is quite odd--I rewound it three times to make sure I wasn't missing something. An American film would rarely end in such an ambiguous manner--thank goodness for Italians!!!