This film is interesting for several reasons.
Firstly, it's a decent political thriller. It has none of the flash nor special effects of today's summer blockbusters that are churned out by Hollywood's factories (such as the silly Will Smith "Bad Boys" flicks). No slow motion shots of the hero calmly walking towards the camera while stuff explodes real good behind him. What "Cent jours a Palerme" (French title) has is heart - a gritty, almost documentary feel that makes the violence in the film seem more "real" in a way than anything we've seen in the past several years.
It also features Lino Ventura, one of the greatest actors from the 70's and 80's. Ventura was known for the hardboiled characters he used to play - usually police detectives. (He was a real life tough guy - started out as a wrestler.) The man always has a hard cold look in his eyes that hints at times of a fury hidden within; and other times great sadness. ("Garde a vue" is certainly one of his masterpieces.) In 100 Days in Palermo he plays a retired head of the Italian Federal Police who is sent to Sicily as a Prefect (a political appointed job with power to direct police investigations), for the purpose of taking on the Mafia - following a series of assassinations of judges and prosecutors. He's a man of great integrity and drive, which makes him likable. But he also suffers from some serious flaws, some of which I found maddening. But that also makes him a real person, which added to my appreciation of the character.
Finally, this is one of the last great "anti-Hollywood" flicks with a "realistic" ending. No idiotic happy completion where the good guys win and the bad guys are blown away. In this sense, the film is very much a work from the 70's (even though it was made in the early 80's). Can you imagine a big studio production made nowadays with an ending like the ones in "The Deer Hunter" or "Apocalypse Now"? Not a chance. And this is not to say that this film in any way reaches the heights of the two aforementioned masterpieces - it certainly does not - but I'm simply making a point.
It's not the absolute best of its genre, but nevertheless is well worth viewing, especially if you enjoy the European style political paranoia and pessimism of the 70's.
Firstly, it's a decent political thriller. It has none of the flash nor special effects of today's summer blockbusters that are churned out by Hollywood's factories (such as the silly Will Smith "Bad Boys" flicks). No slow motion shots of the hero calmly walking towards the camera while stuff explodes real good behind him. What "Cent jours a Palerme" (French title) has is heart - a gritty, almost documentary feel that makes the violence in the film seem more "real" in a way than anything we've seen in the past several years.
It also features Lino Ventura, one of the greatest actors from the 70's and 80's. Ventura was known for the hardboiled characters he used to play - usually police detectives. (He was a real life tough guy - started out as a wrestler.) The man always has a hard cold look in his eyes that hints at times of a fury hidden within; and other times great sadness. ("Garde a vue" is certainly one of his masterpieces.) In 100 Days in Palermo he plays a retired head of the Italian Federal Police who is sent to Sicily as a Prefect (a political appointed job with power to direct police investigations), for the purpose of taking on the Mafia - following a series of assassinations of judges and prosecutors. He's a man of great integrity and drive, which makes him likable. But he also suffers from some serious flaws, some of which I found maddening. But that also makes him a real person, which added to my appreciation of the character.
Finally, this is one of the last great "anti-Hollywood" flicks with a "realistic" ending. No idiotic happy completion where the good guys win and the bad guys are blown away. In this sense, the film is very much a work from the 70's (even though it was made in the early 80's). Can you imagine a big studio production made nowadays with an ending like the ones in "The Deer Hunter" or "Apocalypse Now"? Not a chance. And this is not to say that this film in any way reaches the heights of the two aforementioned masterpieces - it certainly does not - but I'm simply making a point.
It's not the absolute best of its genre, but nevertheless is well worth viewing, especially if you enjoy the European style political paranoia and pessimism of the 70's.