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Da Corleone a Brooklyn
The clash of titans is already fascinating here:
Maurizio Merli vs Mario Merola. And the director, Umberto Lenzi, adds
value to everything. "Da Corleone A Brooklyn" is already on paper a
very tasty dish. Shortly we care that the clash between the two
actually happens at a distance and that Merli meet Merola only in the
last scene. Shortly we care, because this film struggles from the
classical canons of the genre. While there is an icon Merli and
although being labeled as a "Poliziotteschi" on our staff believe there
are a number of things that take away from this genre.
"Da Corleone A Brooklyn" is a road movie that accuse (implicitly) the
Mafia. The boss is a man, Mario Merola, a heart of gold, Merola and is
permeated with irony sometimes deliberate and sometimes procured from
the typical expressions and gestures's Neapolitan actor, not to mention
some solution narrative that sounds a bit 'weird.
It will seem strange to see a Maurizio Merli makes jokes, including the
fact that he doesn't massacre the criminal of turn and he obey orders
without ifs and buts.
A Little bit of Palermo and a little bit of New York for a story that
has as its object the journey of a penitent who has to come from
Palermo to New York to testify against a dangerous clan head Michele
Barresi (Merola). The trip will be very difficult, however, regretted
the coaching, the inspector Berni, will find their way a long line of
traps and ambushes that do not end even before the court in New York.
Indeed, even, they say, during the return journey.
The moral ethics of the criminal, ready to help those in need, is
something that belongs to a bygone era and that makes it sweeter the
figure of Merola that while it is still very little Sicilian but much
more Neapolitan he is good with the character.
Maurizio Merli surprising coming from the usual impassive face of the
Commissioner all in one piece, showing a degree of irony and a certain
humanity that still fits him well on him.
The dualism between the two is also present in another film of the same
year, Stelvio Massi's "Sbirro la tua legge è lenta la mia..."
Oh well. We can speak about curiosity. And with luck we were
presente to the presentation of Lenzi's book "Terrore A Harlem", and
after that in the same evening we saw this movie.
From the direct words of Lenzi we lern:
Is a film which I cherish. I remember we had a big help from the
Palermo's and New York police. We rent the cars and offices in New York
for eight dollars per day. We rent also some policemen and then we
realized that among other things they were already dressed in their
uniforms. We take some scene in the offices when policemen were working
at their desks (...)
In the film there is also Luca Barbareschi in the role of a policeman, he led them to the driver. (...).
The scene where the criminals beat Maurizio Merli was real. We were in
New York and my assistant pointed out to me that we had no extras and
stunt men for the scene. I told him then to take three or four people
from a bar, even those with a more "ugly" face. He found some persons
and they were also a bit 'drunk, I explain to them the scene but they
beat for real the poor Merli. The scene is short, but the beatings are
true and among other things in the background you can see the Twin
Towers.
(...) One of the problems was the atmosphere. In New York it was cold,
it was February in Palermo but there were winds and more than degrees.
To give a sense of winter I put in the mouths of actors in the ice to
make him before then spit takes.
(...) Maurizio Merli was amazing, was an actor from the standpoint of
athleticism was great. It 'strange to think that he died of a heart
attack while playing tennis, inter alia, at start of the game. He did
some incredible things with me if you think that only in "Napoli
Violenta" he's clinging to the cable car with electric wires that pass
over and shoot in the meantime too!
