Netflix review #21: How to Kill a Judge

Ever since I saw him in Django as the mysterious gunfighter dragging a coffin behind him, I've always been a fan of Italian star Franco Nero. He's able to play the quintessential good guy hero, but he can then turn it around and play a villain you just love to hate like in Die Hard 2 or the treacherous partisan in Force 10 from Navarone. Unfortunately, he hasn't made a whole lot of movies in the U.S. so fans have got to look to his European movies. Of course, those can be harder to find.

Thankfully, DVD companies like Blue Underground are out there to release any number of lesser known and cult classics that otherwise are near impossible to find. Trying to catch up with Nero's movies, BU has been more than helpful with my latest movie being 1974's How to Kill a Judge. I was expecting more of an action movie going in, but director Damiano Damiani's mystery thriller was still a solid effort.

Nero stars as Giacomo Solaris, an Italian movie director, who has just released his latest effort. It's causing quite a stir as fans flock to see the film that details the somewhat dubious past of an Italian judge, Alberto Traini (Marco Guglielmi) including one major controversy where witnesses ended up dead, protocol was ignored and a major criminal was let out of prison halfway through his sentence. Solaris' movie ends in a bang quite literally as the judge is shot for his past transgressions. Traini actually laughs off the movie even though everyone around him, including his wife Antonia (Francoise Fabian), wants to take him to court for slander.

The situation gets out of hand when Traini is murdered in an empty park one morning with no witnesses to see how it happened or who did it. Solaris comes under fire for having incited the murder with his movie, now even more successful in theatres, but the director can't help but think, is he next as more bodies start to pile up? Everyone from the local mafia bosses to corrupt politicians become suspects, but there's no clear suspect. All of them had a motive, but who had the guts to go through with it?

As I wrote before, there wasn't much action in this movie, which is fine with me, just don't go in looking for a shoot 'em up like so many other Nero movies, action and western. It's really a murder mystery as Solaris, feeling at least partially guilty and trying to clear his name, goes into detective mode to find the judge's real killer. There's too many twists and turns following the killing to even mention here, and besides I'm not sure I even know what was going on at all times. The last 15 minutes delivers a pretty good twist with the reveal of the murderer, which I sort of saw coming, but I thought all the characters were guilty at some point.

With little to no action, the movie's success hinges on the story then which can be confusing. What stood out for me was the dialogue. It's quick, snappy and even provides a laugh or two. One exchange stands out as Traini introduces Solaris to a young actress who's been in two westerns. Traini snaps back "Oh, he doesn't do westerns," a nice little good-hearted dig at Nero and the spaghetti westerns that made him a star. A great physical actor and presence, Nero's conversations with Vincenzo Terrasini (Renzo Palmer), his mafia connection, and Commisario Zamagna (Gianni Zavota) help propel the movie forward when it might have gotten bogged down in all the suspects and conspiracy theories that develop.

The Blue Underground DVD is a bit pricey, but like they're other products, it's a good package. The movie is shown in widescreen presentation, the Italian city shooting stands out as very strong, with the option to watch the movie in its original Italian audio with English subtitles or in a dubbed English version. Special features include 'The Damiani/Nero Connection,' a 15-minute featurette with interviews with Nero and Damiani, and then the trailer in both English and Italian. The interviews just point out why I like Nero especially, he loves movies and loves talking about them. With so many DVDs released with no special features, it's always a treat to see DVDs like this, even if it's just an average movie on the whole.

How to Kill a Judge (1974): ** 1/2 /****