布鲁诺·贝托奇

Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately; Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction; but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.　　The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average; but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!

◎1975奧斯卡最佳外語片　　◎1974紐約影評人協會最佳導演及最佳影片　　三月，空氣中紛飛飄揚著輕軟絮草，教堂的鐘響迴盪在石板路上，小鎮的春天就此揭開序幕。時序回到三零年代亞德里亞海邊的小城，墨索里尼的極右理想仍是信奉的教條，建築工人老爸、家庭主婦老媽、遊手好閒的舅舅、頑皮的小弟，男孩在天主教、法西斯和義大利傳統家庭價值中，迎接他的青春與成長。教室裡捉弄老師的惡作劇、教堂裡擔心手淫的懺悔、鄉村海邊的熱鬧婚宴，費里尼從容隨意地摘選擷取小鎮生活的切片與軼事，密密織就一片記憶之網，在時代洪流與個人思憶之間相互輝映。　　費里尼曾說：「一個人所能做的紀錄，永遠是，也只能是對他自己的紀錄」。《阿瑪珂德》不但被推崇為其個人寫實語法的代表作，也被視為他最重要的自傳作品之一。影片一方面帶領觀眾走進費里尼的童年生活，看見他純真誠摯、幽默風趣的情感源頭。在時代景況的描繪上，也跳脫了純粹客觀、歷史觀察式的審視與檢驗，從最根本的生活細節著手，真實地重現了二次大戰前後義大利境內法西斯的樣貌。　　有趣的是，在《阿瑪珂德》中，我們也可清楚地看到費里尼對女性形象的思索與著迷，聖母、烈女、蕩婦的三位一體，母親與妓女形成了互為表裡的對比，而費里尼作品中一再出現的、體態豐腴、巨大的女體，不但是哺育孩童的母性泉源，也是青年性啟蒙的開端。