tragic than villainous, so one really suffers with him when the district attorney Nero lays his hands on him. Nero's character too is not villainous at all, because he's just doing his job.A powerful masterpiece, highly recommended and thoroughly impressive.

not want to miss.

Justice: organized criminality and its higher level allied politicians, ministers, judges, etc. create an invincible corrupted system. In his movies usually the conclusion is a bitter one, not much is left to hope. This time though, a brave policeman Martin Balsam decides to break the rules in order to achieve the goal, while district attorney Franco Nero leave us with an open end and some hope... In today's Italian political and social panorama Berlusconi is the prime minister... , Damiano Damiani would have probably lost also that little faith. Sad times indeed great movie though! .

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.

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!