It's not easy to be a criminal in Milan

Caliber 9 (1972)

Fernando Di Leo is a big name in the Italian crime movies and his masterpiece is this little gem of a crime film. The movie starts with a money exchange gone bad and 300000 dollars missing. Then it jumps ahead 3 years to a thug called Ugo Piazza, played by Gastone Moschin, being released from prison. He gets the crime syndicate and the police after him who all believe he took the money. Even his girlfriend, played by Barbara Bouchet, thinks he stole the money, no matter what he says. So life is certainly not easy for Ugo. As the story kicks in it doesn't let the viewer off easy. It keeps you guessing all along while keeping a tense pressure on with a constant danger looming around. Surprisingly for the genre the story is one of this movie's strongest parts, it's not the usual straight forward ripoff most of it's kind tend to go with. Add to that the brilliant cast with strong performances by Gastone Moschin and Mario Adorf, spiced up with the divine Barbara Bouchet and you have a true genre classic. The cinematography is pure brilliance and the score by Luis Bacalov backs it up nicely. One of the best crime movies ever made.
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