Bandits in Rome (1968)

Don't Believe the Hype

Beautiful, moving film.

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

This time round John Cassavetes plays an armed robber who is strictly professional in his approach. He doesn't kill anyone, gets the job done, and gets home in time to take his girlfriend and his son to the circus. He's a good guy who's taken the wrong path in life, but we all know that this lifestyle catches up those who live it. His young partner is part of the problem. Enrico is very trigger happy and borderline psychotic, and when the cops set up a sting to catch the two of them robbing a place, he guns down two people, one of whom is a cop. Enrico isn't known to the police so the cops instead go after and capture Cassavetes, at once revealing his double life to his unsuspecting girlfriend and opening up an opportunity for Enrico to both get his own gang together and hit on Cassavetes' girlfriend. Cassavetes won't spill the beans on Enrico, even when the cops lay the double murder on him, and the film shifts focus from his to Enrico's attempts at becoming an established robber in his own right, which leads to more murder, double crossings, rape, and showdown involving helicopters and pure man-rage. Although it's a little overlong (being an Alberto De Martino film after all) this one is quite nicely paced, with another strong performance from Cassavetes. Although he's sidelined halfway through the film, the guy playing Enrico nicely carries the film as he proves he's too mental to be as successful as Cassavetes. Nice backup from the supporting cast too.It's nowhere near as extreme as the Eurocrime films of the mid-sevenites, but De Martino does throw in the gun fights and car chases you'll be expecting. It doesn't have as many slow spots as his other films either, so that's a bonus.Rome is used to good effect to - so you'll see the Piazza Navona, Coliseum and the EUR.

I thought John Cassavetes was good here, But Nikos Kourkoulos as Enrico was way Better! Kourkoulos is the Star attraction and played as The Main Man of the Film! You know I'm surprised as to why not wasn't this film given Full Awards, it has Top Actors, action of the very Best kind, suspense, the women actors who took part in this amazing Block buster are excellent too... The first film I saw with Nikos Kourkoulos was "Oratoths Mhden" I was only 10 years old back then at the Paramount theatre in Oalkeigh. And that very popular film was actually one of his best! And so my first impressions of Nikos Kourkoulos were just perfect/excellent!! I am rather surprised however why there was no photo of Enrico/the Best Actor in the world the Superstar NIKOS KOURKOULOS???!!!Kindest regards,Alex Demirci(Demertzis).

The only reason to watch this is John Cassavetes.But not only the screenplay is almost devoid of interest but you should also know that half of the movie is Cassavetesless.When he's in jail,he's content to take a back seat and let his pals do the job and the audience is frustrated.Some often say that Cassavetes 's acting in other people's movie was just a job that paid the rent:not true because this very year 1968 saw Cassavetes going to a peak of his actor's career with his unforgettable Guy Woodhouse in "Rosemary's baby"."Roma come Chicago" (check the title) desperately tries to make the audience believe there're watching an American thriller,in spite of an all-Italian cast.More violent than the average thriller of the era though,and what will become of the child?

A film also screened in some countries under the title : " Murder on Via Veneto " . Artistically speaking this movie is worth nothing , a gangster cat and mouse game directed by A.Martino , a director known for his cheap spaghetti westerns and peplums ( Django & Sartana , Ringo , Ercole....). So what on earth is the great John Cassavetes doing in this movie ? Looking to earn some money as an actor ? I don't think so , because it's a low budget drama . The only memorable moments of the film are of course the scenes where Cassavetes is in , so if you have nothing to do check this movie out as a curiosity . If not re-watch Sergio Leone's :" Once upon a time in America" and forget Martino.