Violent City

Watched Sergio Sollima's 1970 film Violent City last night (it was going to be a Carl Dreyer, but at the 11th hour...). Not quite the equal of The Big Gundown or Revolver but an enjoyable, compelling crime film all the same, splicing the infernal affairs of Build My Gallows High with the avant-gardism of Point Blank. The title of the film led me to expect a muscular urban action film, but Sollima almost deliberately steers clear of the streets of New Orleans, where the film is set, and instead relocates the action to the city's grubby hinterlands which lends the film a certain sobriety in comparison with some of the more outrageous examples of the Italian Crime genre. Film is surprisingly rough around the edges as well with a number of technical imperfections - inconsistent lighting, and some clumsy aerial shots, but the film is bookended with two stand-out sequences - a wordless car chase around the increasingly claustrophobic streets of St. Thomas island, and a stunning assassination scene that plays out in near complete silence. In a decade which saw him appear in a string of forgettable films, Violent City remains a Charles Bronson picture to savor...