VA - Italian Police: La Mano Spietata Della Legge & Il Grande Racket & L'Uomo Della Strada Fa Giustizia [3CD Remastered Limited Edition Box Set] (2007)

LA MANO SPIETATA DELLA LEGGE “La mano spietata della legge” (Aka “The Bloody Hands of the Law”) is an hyperviolent police story movie directed in 1973 by Mario Gariazzo (Biella,1930 – Rome, 2002), with two of the best international actors such as Philippe Leroy (a police commissioner) and Klaus Kinski ( a ferocious killer). The movie plot is a mix of typical Italian police story and mafia genres of that period. Commissioner Gianni De Carmine (Philippe Leroy) and his superiors, investigate upon some mafia murders. All the witnesses , however, get killed, by a killer (Kinski). As the commissioner finds out that some noticeable people are involved within mafia’s designs, he is heavily beated at first, then has his girlfriend killed and finally he is moved into another city. “La mano spietata della legge” is one of the most violent italian police story movies of those years, professionally directed with an extreme realistic touch both in dialogues as in the scenes. Although the movie’s budget was low, Gariazzo was able to make an enjoyable film, which perfectly reflects the mood of those years in Italy: “Gli anni di piombo”. The movie score is by Stelvio Cipriani. Cipriani emphasizes the dramatic events with high tension tunes and rhythmic sequences. The wonderfull main theme is arranged differently, in many different scenes, to professionally remark the highlights of the movie. The original soundtrack of “La mano spietata della legge” is released by Digitmovies in its full original lenght and in full stereo. —————————————————– L’UOMO DELLA STRADA FA GIUSTIZIA ‘L’uomo della strada fa giustizia’ (1975 – aka ‘Manhunt in the City’) was directed by Umberto Lenzi, directorof famous Giallos (‘Spasmo’, ‘Gatti rossi in un labirinto di vetro’) and Police Movies (‘Milano Odia: la polizia non può sparare’,’La banda del gobbo’. The film is one of the Police Movies with a dramatic touch that could alsobe considered as a part of the ‘Giustizieri’ (‘Executioners’) series like the splendid ‘Il cittadino si ribella ‘by Enzo G.Castellari.The story is about the murdering of a young girl,daughter of an engineer, during a jewellery robbery. The father,discontented with the inefficiency of the police, decides to deal out justice and manages to kill some villains. Because of a mistake, the real murderer will be killed by the police. Lenzi is able to show us the social moral crisis of the ’70s with tangible realism. Digitmovies presents for the first time on record the complete original motion picture soundtrack by Bruno Nicolai in stereo. Until now only a few tracks were available on a promotional sonorization album of C.A.M. (CmL 125: Tema Con Variazioni: ‘Giallo-Poliziesco’). Bruno Nicolai composed a jazz theme for piano accompanied by percussion, and developed later with sax and orchestra. A perfect musical comment to describe the urban reality of those years. Introduced in ‘Titoli di testa’(Tr.1) this particular theme is reprised throughout the score (Tr.5, Tr.7, Tr.16,Tr.19, Tr.20). Action and suspense music emphasizes the character of a citizen who wants to deal out justice on his own (Tr.2, Tr.4, Tr.9, Tr.11,Tr.12, Tr.15). To emphasize the sadness of the protagonist, Bruno Nicolai also provided a delicious romantic theme for piano, celesta and strings(Tr.3), reprised in Tr.6, Tr.8, Tr.10, Tr.13, Tr.18. Lounge music cannot be missed, such as a rock shake (Tr.14) and a slow dance-like piece (Tr.17). As a bonus track we include an alternate version of ‘Titoli di coda’ (Tr.21). —————————————————– IL GRANDE RACKET Prolific director Enzo G.Castellari, best known for his Westerns (“Keoma”) and for Police Movies (“La polizia incrimina, la legge assolve”), demonstrates with his movie “Il grande racket“ (aka “The Big Racket”) that he is one of the few Italian directors who is capable of doing action movies with professionalism and sensibility. The film tells the story of police marshal Palmieri (played by Fabio Testi) struggling with a group of criminals blackmailing shop owners in Rome. Hindered by his superiors because of his violent methods Palmieri is getting dismissed. Together with the victim of the racket the ex-cop decides to take revenge on the criminals and their bosses. “Il grande racket” together with “Milano odia: la polizia non può sparare” by Lenzi and “Luca il contrabbandiere” by Fulci is one of the most violent Italian police movies. The particularly violent scenes include the rape of the daughter of a restaurateur and the murdering of the wife of a champion, burned alive by the criminals. The final scene including the long gun-fight between Palmieri and the criminals in the factory is a true homage to the Italian Cinema Western. Guido & Maurizio De Angelis are the composers of this original motion picture soundtrack that Digitmovies presents here for the first time on record in its complete form and in full stereo. The main theme of “Il grande racket”, introduced in Titoli di Testa (Tr.1) and reprised in numerous variations (Tr.5, Tr.9, Tr.13, Tr.16), perfectly match the action scenes, using solo rock guitars, percussions and keyboards that results in something between hard rock and progressive rock. Tracks Tr.2, Tr.10 and Tr.12, dominated by bass, drums and bongos, emphasize the most intense and violent moments of the movie. The pieces using obsessive sounds and hallucinatory voices (Tr.4, Tr.8, Tr.14, Tr.15) enrich the unquiet moments of this soundtrack.