Another blazing mafia movie from Fernando di Leo, the ace who brought us CALIBRE 9 and MANHUNT, THE BOSS is a cold and violent film that purports to "show it how it is", ie. depict the everyday life of members of a small-town mafia without glossing over any of the hard facts or making it a sentimental family movie. Indeed the characters are unapproachable and unlikable, the film doesn't offer us one sympathetic person in the whole film. Instead we are asked to identify with Henry Silva's stone-faced leading character, a ruthless killer who doesn't think twice of bumping off the father figure who adopted him fifteen years previously for "the family" and who spends his time massacring people or beating women.Silva is great in the lead, by the way. You definitely would not mess with this guy if you saw him in the street. He's one of the hardest characters I've yet to see in a movie. What can you say when the opening set-up shows him offing a bunch of rivals at a porn cinema by using a grenade launcher to literally blow them into bloody ribbons? Di Leo's knack of blending engaging edge-of-your-seat action with gripping plot twists and plentiful betrayals keeps the film full of energy and the body count keeps rising and rising after the opening massacre. I'd say at least three dozen guys get killed during the course of this movie. The film itself is very drab-looking, with lots of dark greys and browns making up the sets and there isn't a lot of happiness in the movie. Instead THE BOSS focuses on themes of loyalty, friendship, loss, and the human determination to survive.Richard Conte takes the role of the aged Don Corasco and is great in the significant role, as you would expect from a pro. There are also standouts from the supporting cast – Gianni Garko's slimy cop is really loathsome for instance, and Antonia Santilli makes an impact as the daughter of the Don, typically getting abused and used by the bad guys (Di Leo must really hate women judging by his movies). There are lots of great turns from stalwart supports like Howard Ross and Andrea Aureli who keep their scenes lively, and maximum amounts of suspense and tension are thrown in at keys points to give the movie a knife-edge atmosphere. The action scenes are dynamic and extremely violent. Cars and buildings explode, there are shoot-outs, flick knives in mouths, loads more hard-hitting footage. These elements make the film great addition to the Italo crime genre.

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.

The third and final film in Fernando Di Leo's excellent Millieu trilogy, "Il Boss" of 1973 is an absolute masterpiece that easily ranks among the most brilliant Mafia films ever brought to screen. Director Di Leo had created one of Crime Cinema's all-time highlights already with "Milano Calibro 9" in 1972, and while the succeeding "La Mala Ordina" (aka.) "Manhunt" from the same year was still excellent, but slightly inferior, "Il Boss" equals the brilliance of the first film. Unlike its two predecessors, which played in Milan, "Il Boss" takes place in Palermo, Sicily. The film which begins with a memorably brutal opening sequence already, delivers raw action and excessive violence as well as a very realistic insight into corruption and organized crime. The film is tough-minded and uncompromising from the very beginning, and the characters, all of which are brutal, immoral and violent differ not in their moral values, but just in their toughness. The stone- faced Henry Silva in the lead alone makes this film an absolute must-see for every lover of crime cinema. Silva makes the toughest and most charismatic Mafia hit-man ever to have appeared on screen in his leading role of Nick Lanzetta, and the doubtlessly greatest role ever played by Silva, generally one of the greatest actors in Italian crime cinema.This film, which revolves around power struggles and a kidnapping within Sicily's organized crime, delivers tons of raw action and sadistic violence as well as fine portion of criticism of social circumstances and corruption. Apart from that, it also has a unique atmosphere and gives a stunning and immensely realistic portrayal of the power struggles within the mafia. "Il Boss" is a film of superb, ruthless characters, and equally superb performances. As mentioned above, Henry Silva is one of my favorite actors and he is absolutely brilliant in the leading role of Nick Lanzetta here. Lanzetta is arguably THE toughest Mafia-hit-man character in Cinema-history, and Silva is the perfect, no, the ONLY choice to play the role. Yes, this truly is a film that makes it hard not to talk in superlatives all the time. The other performances are entirely great too, be it Richard Conte as a Mafia Boss, Pier Paolo Capponi, or Spaghetti Western star Gianni Garko, who is excellent in the role of a sleazy corrupt police detective. The ravishing beauty Antonia Santilli is also superb in the female lead as a seductive mobster's daughter, for unknown reasons she sadly didn't appear in too many other films. The brilliant score by Luis Enríquez Bacalov contributes a lot to the film ingenious atmosphere and general mood. Brutal, Tough-Minded and absolutely brilliant "Il Boss" is a personal favorite of mine that easily ranks among the greatest Mafia-flicks ever made! I could go on praising this film for a long time, but I will just finish my review with a recommendation: Watch this film as soon as you can! This is Italian genre-cinema at its finest, and an absolute must see for every lover of Cult-cinema!

OK, so maybe such a comparison has grown tired, but given the year this film was released and the more than likely inspiration it received from the former, it makes sense. Anyway, I just re-watched the Raro DVD edition of this classic 1973 Italo-crimer. I must say the film is even better the second time around as it allowed me to notice details I was previously unaware of. This film is easily one of the best Di Leo crime flicks and ranks as one of my favorite Mafia film of all time. In my book it beats the hell out of 'The Godfather'. The film begins with a fantastic opening sequence which is absolute exploding dummy heaven. That particular scene features Henry Silva blowing away a group of horny elderly Mafia bosses with a rifle mounted grenade launcher! What follows is a compelling Mafia story chronicling the rise of Silva's character to the top. Plenty of interesting events ensue, one of which features a montage of atrocities equal to 1,000 'Godfather' baptism scenes. Henry Silva plays one crazy mofo in what is perhaps his coolest role and Luis Enríquez Bacalov provides a truly awesome score (even if it is somewhat a rehash of his earlier work on 'Summertime Killer'). With plenty of action (not to mention nudity courtesy of the lovely Antonia Santilli), this is an absolute must see for fans of poliziotteschi. Also watch for Hollywood veteran Richard Conte and Spaghetti Western star Gianni Garko who appear in memorable roles.