The Film:
Damiano Damiani has done a massive range of films, from horror with The Witch to drama with The Empty Canvass, but many of his better films such as Confessions Of A Police Captain contain the mafia, corruption and the Italian island of Sicily. How To Kill A Judge is one of these films. Working with Franco Nero (Die Hard 2, Django) yet again after previously joining together six years before for The Day Of The Owl, Damiani brings us yet another exciting story of the mafia, politics and corruption.
Franco Nero plays film director Giacomo Solaris whose latest film depicts a prominent Sicilian judge as being on the Mafia's payroll. Unfortunately, the film rings true with local mafia members and judges as the film seems to depict their corrupt ways with shocking accuracy. When the film is first released, the judge who is apparently the judge depicted in the film, invites Solaris to dinner, where he takes him into a room and threatens with legal action unless he pulls it from release. When Solaris refuses however, things soon turn nasty as the judge is found shot dead. When Solaris finds out about the grizzly death after reaching an airport he decides he will investigate it himself. He feels he must bear some responsibility for the following assassinations because of his film but each twist brings a new revelation.
How To Kill A Judge is a film that is very low on action, yet high on suspense. A great story and great acting make this a film an extremely good watch and for anyone who is a fan of Italian euro-crime thrillers, this is a necessity for your collection. You can buy it with confidence. Eagle eyed viewers should also keep an out for the cameo from director Damiano.
The DVD:
Video:
Blue Underground have given us a nice looking anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer which although is well detailed, also seems a bit soft in places. The colours are good and there was no bleeding but I did a notice a slight amount of aliasing during some scenes. The picture here, is not quite as good as La Scorta, but then again, it is nineteen years older. Blue Underground have nothing to be ashamed of.
Audio:
Blue Underground have provided two soundtracks on the disc, the original Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track and a dubbed English Dolby Digital 2.0 Dual Mono track which sounds as though Nero is dubbing his own part. Sound levels are consistent and there was no crackling, though a low level of hissing could be heard. An above average effort.
Extras:
The Damiani/Nero Connection - Running at fifteen minutes, this featurette is actually some short clips from the film intertwined with new interview segments with director Damiano Damiani and actor Franco Nero. We hear about how they first met several years beforehand when Damiani gave Franco a small role in another film. They then give us some information about how the locals reacted to filming including a funny story about some contracters moving some wagons for Damiani. Nero only gets about half the amount of screentime as Damiani, which is unfortunate, though both interviewees are interesting. Well worth a watch.
The Rest - We finish off with a couple of trailers: The US trailer and the Italian trailer.
