Italian classic that became one of the precursors to the poliziottesco genre and definitely one of the best examples of it as well.

A simple analysis of this based-in-real-events film would say that Carlo Lizzani directed it in a documentary style, which I do not completely disagree with, but I believe that it is more than that. Its feel is more that of a journalistic piece (the fact that many times newspapers are in the centre of the story reinforces this idea). The picture is formally divided in two parts but those look like they are shaped by several journalistic articles which put together build the story. From the criminal and underworld life of Milan, the developments and perks of the police investigation, the preparation of the heists, the heists themselves, the manhunt and the private lives of the criminals to even briefly that of the multiple victims are perfectly devised in barely 1 hour and 30 minutes (something that many movies don’t even accomplish in much longer runtimes).

Besides the discussed form, the content of the picture, meaning the screenplay is equally great and all accompanied with brutal action and excellent performances from the entire cast. Gian Maria Volonté is one of those actors that seems impossible for him to actually have a bad performance, thing that many times put in a bad spot their counterparts since they cannot step up to the same level, but this time not even one of his co-stars fails him at all.

The only slightly weaker or less exceptional thing of the movie would be the actual part around the heist (focal point of the second section of the film) which, besides the aforementioned nice adding of the victims lives and great writing, follows a bit more the standard developments of heist-chase-manhunt of many other films of the genre.

Still, besides that, the movie totally succeeds in being deeply engaging and entertaining during its entirety. The obvious expected patterns of heist films are putted to the test and pushed much forward than the usual due to its original mise-en-scene, actually deep writing (truly scratching the hardships of the criminal life), exceptional action scenes (there are some brutal killings) and great acting, and consequently making it a must watch not only for poliziotteschi fans, not only for heist-film fans but for fans of crime movies in general.