Il Cinico, l'infame, il violento aka The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist (Umberto Lenzi, 1977)
"Keep an eye on him, Cappuccino"
Former Inspector turned crime novelist Tanzi (Maurizio Merli) is a marked man. A vicious criminal he once put behind bars known as 'The Chinaman' (Tomas Milian) has escaped jail, and wants R-E-V-E-N-G-E! And he gets it! As Tanzi does indeed get shot, but not fatally. This gives the Cops a chance to fake Tanzi's death in order to keep him safe. Trouble is, Tanzi's a bit of a maverick and wants to KILL the criminals almost single-handedly! Nutter!
He's hairy, He's HARD... He's the HERO!
On the other side, The Chinaman wants to team up with American gangster Frank DiMaggio (B movie legend John Saxon! With a moustache!), so they can rule the world of crime in Roma. Needless to say, chaos and double-crosses ensue. Marvelous.
What a cast! And as this is an Umberto Lenzi film, The cynic, the rat… is a very manly, borderline exploitation flick… Women are nothing but victims / tits and ass. In fact, there's a real nasty moment in the film, but this is 1970s Italian cinema. It's riddled with violence, car chases, naked ladies and MANLY men smoking a lot of tabs. MEN.
Being a Sweeney aficionado, I do like some of these poliziotteschi films from the 70s. This is one of the better ones, no doubt about it. John Saxon has a small role, but he's always class. Merli is the hero (as ever), he's always the leading man rather than the character actor type. He lumbers around the set , gun in hand, and acts all tough like. That's what Maurizio Merli made his name doing, and that's what he does here. Milian, however, has a method to his madness. He's magnificent in this! His little quirks and mannerisms are a joy to behold… I don't think I've seen a bad performance yet from old Tomas. He reminds me of Klaus Kinski in a way… A terrific actor who might just be a little crazy in real life. The booklet that comes with this German DVD release states that Milian & Merli hated each other. Well, holy shit, hold the front page! Let's put that down to a clash of egos, shall we?
This Film Art DVD release is most welcome and brought me great joy. Kudos to the Germans for releasing this great print. Also, Franco Micalizzi' soundtrack for this film is legendary. Buy the film then buy the soundtrack.
