WasAnnon Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Benedito Dias Rodrigues A crude vision of rotten and collapsed society by Damiani,where he describe through a old and seasoned cop who are in clash with a young public prosecutor around corruption on political agents in property speculation,each one has a point of veiw,the cop has a realist and prosecutor read under the law,one them will see how the wheels turn...anyway a consistent and solid movie about power and justice in two different perspectives!!Nero and Balsan were in great shape in a stunning performance,highly recommended!!Resume:First watch: 1993 / How many: 2 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 8.5

Bezenby This film starts with Palermo's Police Captain, Martin Balsam, arranging the release of a known criminal from an insane asylum and calmly watches on as the man purchases a machine gun, dresses up as a cop, and heads off to the office of a local crime boss/building merchant, resulting in a bloodbath with four dead bodies. The mafia boss however seemed to have got wind of this and wasn't around for the gunfight.Franco Nero then turns up as a new district attorney who is out to play by the rules and get to the bottom of what happened - Who alerted the mafia boss that the guy was out of the loony bin? Who arranged for the guy to be released in the first place? Franco the D.A doesn't trust Balsam the cop, and various interviews with the mafia boss and others suggests that Franco is on the mafia payroll or Balsam was paid to release the prisoner to kill the mafia boss by rival mafia gangs.The two form a very uneasy alliance where Balsam suggest that most of the municipal staff of Palermo are on the mafia payroll and explains his reason for using unorthodox methods is because the mafia boss and himself grew up in a village years ago and the mafia boss shot a guy protesting about the terrible wages the mafia were paying quarry workers (played by Giancarlo Prete in a very good cameo). Nero retorts by saying he knows Balsam withdrew two million lira from an account at the same time, but will he believe that he used that to find Prete's mafia murdered body? Although this film is long and low on action, it's easy to get drawn in by the acting of the two leads. It's rarer still to see Franco Nero get acted off the screen, but that's what happens here. You might know Martin Balsam as the cop from Psycho or Alan Arkin's superior officer in Catch 22, but here we get the full spectrum of acting. He's hard skinned and efficient as a cop, but prone to showing mercy to folk who have acted stupidly, and is kind to his colleagues, even those on the mafia payroll. Wherever he goes in this film he's pushed to the absolute limit, so the bitter sweet smile on his face as a full room of mafia staff are laughing at him is priceless. And he one-ups that scene later on. Beautiful.Only negatives are Franco Nero doesn't dub his own voice (even though he speaks fluent English) and Popflix present this in full screen, but I'll say what I always say - best to see the film in any form rather than not at all!

dbborroughs This would have played the grindhouse circuit mostly because its a dubbed Italian crime drama.Story of a police captain/commissioner who is trying to fight mafia infiltration into government using unorthodox methods (he springs one mafia leaders enemy from an insane asylum in the hope he'll tray to kill his foe) who gets hooked up with a prosecutor trying to do the same thing. The plot is much more complicated than that but that should be enough to get you started.This is an excellent little thriller that unjustly has been made to seem as if its pure trash film instead of the griping crime drama it is. I really liked this film a great deal and really want to make an effort to see it again simply because I was watching it much too late to properly enjoy the film and give it its due.Definitely worth a shot-more so since its floating around in the discount bins for as little as a buck.

The_Void I'm a big fan of Italian cop flicks, but Confessions of a Police Captain actually doesn't contain many of the things that I love this type of movie for. Damiano Damiani's film is an early example of the Polizi flick and has the rare accolade of not following on the heels of Don Siegel's masterpiece Dirty Harry. The film is a rather more sober affair than what I'm used to from this sort of film and doesn't feature the things such as car chases, gun fights and fistfights that other films in this genre feature in droves; but this is made up for by the fact that the director has created a stylish and interesting film that flows well throughout. The plot focuses largely on the mafia that run Italy over and above the law. Our two central characters are Commissioner Bonavia and District Attorney Traini who are investigating mafia occurrences in the city. The plot begins with an attempt on a man's life, and the man later turns out to be D'Ambrosio; a man high up within the mafia. The two law enforcers appear to be on the same page in fighting the crime in the city...Damiano Damiani was apparently quite a prolific crime film director in the seventies; although the only film I'd seen from him prior to this one was the abysmal Amityville II. It's clear that he has a real flair for this sort of film, however, as Confessions of a Police Captain is perfectly pitched and very professionally done. The fact that the film doesn't feature the things that usually make these films exciting may be a hindrance for some people, but in my opinion; the film has more than enough going for it elsewhere. The two central performances are one of the film's strongest elements. American actor Martin Balsam is fantastic as the police commissioner, but even better than him is Franco Nero as the district attorney. I've seen a lot of Franco Nero films and every time I see him, I become more impressed. He's a very versatile actor who seems to be able to play just about any role and once again he gives a fantastic lead performance. The commentary on justice is well thought, although I have to admit that I wasn't keen on the ambiguous ending. Overall, this is at the very top of Italian cop flicks; while it doesn't fit in with some of the better known examples, it's hard to deny that it is a gem of a movie.