p Fernando Di Leo 三九 s quot Milano Calibro 九 quot is an out-and-out masterpiece of Italian Crime cinema and, in my opinion, one of the most astonishing crime stories ever told The first film in Di Leo 三九 s excellent 三九 Milieu 三九 trilogy, quot Milano Calibro 九 quot was followed by quot La Mala Ordina quot aka quot Manhunt quot , also 一九七二 and the brilliant quot Il Boss quot 一九七三 The three films are not connected story-wise, but all three are excellent, and highly realistic portrayals of organized crime As far as I am concerned quot Manhunt quot is allthough excellent slightly inferior to this one and quot Il Boss quot which both stand out as absolute all-time highlights of crime cinema quot Milano Calibro 九 quot is the best of them all, a film that is astonishing in all aspects, be it the ingenious plot that, apart from a compelling story and clever twists, includes social criticism, the performances, the gritty atmosphere and suspense or the brilliant score I can hardly find the right words to express my admiration for this masterpiece which easily ranks among the greatest Gangster flicks ever brought to screen Gastone Moschin stars as Ugo Piazza, a tough and elliptical ex-convict who has just been released from prison Immediately after his release, Ugo is approached by members of the Milan mob lead by the irascible gangster Rocco Mario Adorf , as they suspect him to be responsible for the disappearance of a large sum of money belonging to their boss, an American Lionel Stander who controls the organized crime in Milan quot Milano Calibro 九 quot is a film that delivers an astonishingly realistic mood of the underworld like hardly another The intriguing storyline goes in hand with interesting characters, raw atmosphere, suspense and breathtaking action, social criticism and brutal violence The film is simply stunning from the beginning to the end, which is even intensified by the brilliant score, a collaboration of the famous composer Luis Enríquez Bacalov and the Italian Progressive Rock band Osanna Ugo Piazza must be one of the most charismatic gangster characters ever in cinema, and Gastone Moschin was the prefect choice for the role Moschin delivers a brilliant performance, and the rest of the cast is also great Mario Adorf is irascible like a rabid dog as the ferocious gangster Rocco, a role that fits him like a glove The great Lionel Stander fits perfectly in his role of the American Mafia Don The two cop characters in the film are played by two of the greatest regulars of Italian genre-cinema, Luigi Pistilli and Frank Wolff who committed suicide before the film was released The ravishing Barbara Bouchet is astonishing and incredibly sexy in the role of Ugo Piazza 三九 s stripper girlfriend Bouchet is both a stunning beauty and an excellent actress and this is doubtlessly one of her most memorable roles This is also a political film and director Di Leo embedded a lot of social criticism about topics like corruption This film simply has everything one can possibly desire in cinema Films like quot Milano Calibro 九 quot are the reason why I love cinema This is an absolute masterpiece in all regards and, without exaggeration, one of the greatest Crime flicks ever made The ingenious opening scene alone is more memorable than most films get in two hours p