In addition to being director Duccio Tessari’s third Italocrime offering (that is, if you consider his earlier perfect caper-gone-wrong film THE BASTARDS [1968] and his crime-infused giallo DEATH OCCURRED LAST NIGHT [1970] Eurocrime pictures), TONY ARZENTA (1973) became a sizable hit in many markets, and, as with Stefano Vanzina’s THE EXECUTION SQUAD (1973), and Enzo G. Castellari’s HIGH CRIME (1973), was a major influence on a whole crime wave of ’70s Italian actioners. The film’s popularity was also no doubt precipitated by the presence of French superstar Alain Delon as the title character, but unlike the subsequent – and numerous - Italian vigilante cop shoot-’em-ups of the era, TONY ARZENTA possesses a distinctly different tone, and it’s sparse, tightly-controlled narrative is at times not unlike the works of celebrated director Jean-Pierre Melville.
As he did so effectively in Melville’s LE SAMOURAÏ (1967), Delon once again stars as the familiar laconic, methodical hitman, who has sickened of his lifestyle, and decides to leave the Mafia controlled syndicate run by Nick Gusto (Richard Conte). When Nick asks why he is choosing to retire, Tony laments, “One of these days I’m going to stop a bullet, and my kid will figure he’s gotta pay somebody back”, but Nick quickly retorts, “You don’t walk out of the business. Either you stay in or they carry you out!” Of course, the syndicate capi refuse to accept Arzenta’s retirement proposal, which of course, unleashes a torrent of Mafia reprisals, betrayals and plenty of ultraviolence…
First seen celebrating his son’s birthday with his wife (Nicoletta Machiavelli) and family friends, Arzenta leaves the party early to rub-out an intended target, but no sooner has the gunsmoke cleared, he returns to the normalcy of his family home, tucking his son into bed like any good father would. Arzenta is a man of few words, but he is both thoughtful and tender with those he loves, yet coldly systematic with persons who mean nothing more to him than a paycheck. Arzenta’s moral duality is well reflected by Tessari and his DP Silvano Ippoliti who generate some evocative imagery, including a seemingly desolate, fog-enshrouded Milan and various starkly-cut interiors (helped along by Lorenzo Baraldi’s coolly modern set designs), which are effectively juxtaposed with the sunny – and far more hospitable - climate of Arzenta’s Palermo family home, where he frequently confers with his mother (Carla Calò) father (Corrado Gaipa). Gianni Ferrio also contributes a haunting main theme (as sung by the incredible Ornella Vanoni), whose lyrics further echo Arzenta’s self-negating existence as a friendless, disposable outsider, and that of a once loving family man.
Beautifully paced with some terrifically tensile moments, TONY ARZENTA is an unsparingly violent film, and Arzenta makes for a ruthlessly efficient killing machine who is equally skilled with either a gun, garotte or switchblade, and who is quieter than the silencer of his large-calibre handgun. Although reliant on more credible human drama, action erupts at perfectly-timed intervals and is suitably tough and gritty. In one particular standout scene aboard a train, Arzenta kills his intended victim in a most spectacular fashion that rivals anything seen in a giallo whodunit or Dario Argento picture. In between his numerous precision-timed hits throughout Europe, the film also includes a couple of flawlessly staged car chases with Delon performing some of his very own stunt work.
Further highlighted by uniformly strong performances from an impressive roster of supporting players, former Hollywood star Richard Conte excels as the honour-bound mob boss of an impeccably organized directory of professional criminals. In an interesting dynamic, his character has developed an almost father / son-like dynamic with Delon’s calculating hitman, which adds plenty of impact as the narrative progresses. Further supporting players include Roger Hanin as Carré, an overly cruel and misogynist mob boss who would want nothing more than to be rid of Arzenta without any fuss (“Arzenta is just a piece of dogshit I want wiped off my shoe!”), and who also derives sadistic pleasure out of constantly abusing his girlfriend Sandra (“I don’t keep you around here just to play with yourself!”), played by the always fascinating Carla Gravina. In one of the film’s toughest, and most difficult to stomach scenes (which was shortened in many English-speaking prints), Gravina is viciously beaten by three goons (“Get rough with ’er!”) as they wait for Arzenta to return to his hideout. Like Carré, Anton Diffring is also equally reprehensible as the Copenhagen connection Hans Grünwald, a racist with Nazi proclivities, whose blonde hair and blue eyes cannot hide his black heart, who, even at the risk of sacrificing potential profits, refuses to do business with “those blacks” in Morocco. Other future Eurocrime repeat offenders include Marc Porel as Arzenta’s only friend Domenico Maggio, Giancarlo Sbargia as Arzenta’s other “friend,” Lino Troisi as mob boss Cutitta, Ettore Manni as a swindling capo, Silvano Tranquilli as the incorruptible Interpol officer Montalli, Erika Blanc as a bruised and battered prostitute, and Rosalba Neri in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-her bit part as Cutitta’s wife.
Although distributed theatrically in the U.S. as NO WAY OUT via Cinema Shares International Distribution Corporation, TONY ARZENTA never received a North American VHS release, and outside of Creazioni Home Video’s Italian language videotape (which popped up in several North American ethnic video stores in the early ’90s), this was a difficult title to see during the video era. For those that could locate it, Eion’s Japanese VHS videocassette featured an impressive widescreen transfer for the time, and it was in English to boot. In 2003, the film was released on Japanese DVD by King Records as part of their “Style of Italian Action Films” collection, and although it contained both Italian and English audio tracks, the non-anamorphic widescreen transfer left plenty of room for improvement. In 2022, Germany’s Explosive Media debuted the film on Blu-ray as a 2-disc Region B limited edition mediabook, which was a substantial upgrade over previous standard definition releases. Disc one included the ‘International Cut’ (112m57s), and showcased a new restoration, which had plenty of visible texture, a healthier colour palette, and more pronounced black levels; although it must be said, occasional scenes still seemed slightly soft, but this of course may be a product of Ippoliti’s at times distinctive photography. A German-language audio commentary with film historian Leonhard Elias Lemke was included, but without the benefit of English subtitles, it was not reviewed. Disc two included the film’s German theatrical cut (96m36s), which seemed to be on par picture-wise with the longer cut, but was not English-friendly. The brief extras on disc two included a decent photo gallery, and the film’s Italian theatrical trailer (3m34s). The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono tracks were in English, Italian and German on the longer cut, and German only on the shorter German theatrical cut of the film. The handsomely-designed mediabook also included a nicely illustrated 40-page booklet with writing from Steffen Wulf, but alas, it too was only in German.
Earlier this year, UK-based Radiance Films finally brought this top-tier Eurocrime film to English-speaking audiences with their Region Free BD, which touts a “new restoration, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK” that includes the film's longer cut, and looks very comparable to Explosive Media’s earlier Blu. Once again, despite a few image inconsistencies, it all looks quite appealing with a well-balanced colour scheme and detail that is well delineated. Both English and Italian audio options (with optional English subtitles) are included in uncompressed LPCM 2.0 mono, both of which have modest depth and sound perfectly fine. While some differences are evident between the two audio tracks, most of the principal cast is speaking English, so the English audio is definitely preferable. However, a couple of brief scenes (including the extended beating of Sandra), which were not included in the original English-language export version, the film reverts to Italian with English subtitles. English SDH subtitles are also included.
For their release, Radiance have curated several interesting special features beginning with a scene-specific audio commentary with Fragments of Fear’s Peter Jilmstad who discusses in great – and very welcome - detail the “diverse and accomplished supporting cast”, which he believes affords the film a “much richer experience”, but he also takes the time to talk about the film’s unique production design including many of the film’s “modernist flats” and “sleek offices”, as well as a thorough production history of the film itself; it’s a great listen and Peter never fails to educate and entertain. Other extra features include an archival interview from French television with actor Alain Delon (12m08s) wherein he discusses his role as a producer because he reached “a tipping point of sorts as an actor,” his three working periods with directors Luchino Visconti, René Clément and Jean-Pierre Melville, and moving forward with “young cinema.” In Not a Gangster, Not a Cop - The Eurocrime Genre’s Other Professions (11m13s), crime film historian Mike Malloy and director of the superb documentary EUROCRIME! THE ITALIAN COP AND GANGSTER FILMS THAT RULED THE ’70s (2012) discusses films “that broke the formula” and did not focus on either gangsters or cops, but instead gave attention to “lone wolf characters” in films he aptly describes as an “every man movie.” Beautifully produced and tightly cut, this is a fascinating featurette, which also includes a wide variety of eye-popping stills and posters, and is a must-watch for any Eurocrime aficionado. The film’s Italian theatrical trailer (3m50s) finishes off the extras. As is the norm, the initial print of 3000 copies includes the removable OBI strip and a 20-page liner notes booklet with writing on the film by Leila Wimmer, which provides an excellent summary of Alain Delon’s wide-ranging career both as an actor and producer.
While TONY ARZENTA does follow a fairly predictable pattern of impersonal mob etiquette and retribution, it stands as gripping experience nonetheless and remains one of Delon’s grittiest and best Eurocrime pictures, which is finally afforded a proper English-friendly home video release. Highly recommended! Pre-order direct from Radiance Films or DiabolikDVD.
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