Palermo-Milan One Way – Claudio Fragasso, 1995
Palermo Milano solo andata
Italy, 1995
Director: Claudio Fragasso
Script: Rossella Drudi
Cast:
Giancarlo Giannini, Raoul Bova, Ricky Memphis, Francesco Benigno, Romina Mondello, Tony Sperandeo
Plot
A Mafia “pentito” (“repentant”) reveals to the police the name of Turi Leofonte, an accountant with numerous data on the financing of boss Scalea’s organization. Commissioner Nino Di Venanzio is tasked with convincing Leofonte to cooperate with the authorities (following a house search of his villa), and once he agrees to cooperate, to escort him and his family from Palermo to Milan, where he is to testify at the trial.
Precipitously, Leofonte, his wife and young son, as well as Chiara, his teenage daughter (who at the time of her father’s arrest was at a high society party in Palermo); must leave their residence to be driven in three different cars to the airport, from where they will fly to Milan in the midst of a heavy security detail. Di Venanzio urges Leofonte to say goodbye to his wife and son at the gates of his villa, because “there won’t be time for that at the airport”; after which they are put into separate police cars. Chiara is picked up by two other agents, one of whom (Tarcisio) recognizes her because he had seen a photo of her in the house during the search.
On the way to the airport, Leofonte’s grief-stricken wife has a melancholy feeling that this is the last time she will see Palermo, as she looks out of the window at the city.
The car Chiara is in is farther away, while the car carrying Leofonte (and the commissioner) and the one carrying his wife and son are practically side by side…
In a sort of square, still in the middle of the city, an ambush treacherously takes place: from a van that cuts them off, several individuals equipped with automatic rifles emerge and unload bursts of lead on the first two cars of the retinue. An intense firefight ensued, claiming the lives of two of the escort agents and several of the assassins. Finally, when the hail of bullets seems to have ceased, Leofonte’s wife, carrying her son, gets out of the leaky car (even though the policemen had urged her not to do so), and runs to where her husband is hiding… One of the hitmen takes advantage of the opportunity that the unhappy woman has been shot and riddles her with bullets, with her son in her arms; both perish as a consequence, and Leofonte – witness of the tragedy – is devastated. Meanwhile, Chiara is unaware of what has just happened to her mother and brother (she will find out much later, listening to the radio), because the car in which she is traveling was at a considerable distance.
The attack, which was intended to silence Leofonte forever and prevent him from testifying in court, could only have been carried out due to some “leak” of information within the police or judicial apparatus (the sewers of the state), someone “in high places” with political and administrative connections, who seemed to have an interest in preventing Leofonte from arriving alive in Milan. This is the only way to explain why the hitmen knew that the accountant had decided to collaborate with the authorities, and – what is even more surprising – why they were aware of the specific route the motorcade was taking on its way to the airport.
Di Venanzio realizes this truism; they have been betrayed. They have been used, and as agents of the escort “rightly” were chosen policemen with no experience; in order to facilitate the work of the assassins; this is mentioned by Leofonte himself. Di Venanzio, who receives a call from one of his superiors, and who speaks with a judge, refuses to inform about his whereabouts, and says that they will travel to Milan by their own means, without counting on the state coverage, in order to avoid new attacks.
They will no longer use telephones to avoid being traced, and from then on their mission will be to reach Milan alive, escorting Leofonte and his daughter, and repelling the assassins who are hot on their trail. They will travel by car, train and bus, in strict incognito, suffering multiple mishaps before finally reaching their destination – which not all the members of the entourage will reach…
Comment
Very entertaining post-poliziotesque (which, being shot in 1995, is late for its genre, so characteristic of the seventies), which combines drama, intrigue and action with great success. The frustrated love story between the beautiful and sprightly Chiara and her escort, the shy and diligent Tarcisio, deserves a special mention. Also the soundtrack, with its epic touches, especially towards the end of the story, when Leofonte arrives at the courthouse, escorted by more and more agents.
The film’s director, Claudio Fragasso, is especially known for having made B (and Z) series productions during the ’80s, in the shadow of masters such as Lucio Fulci and other compatriots. Fragasso was involved in the project “Zombi 3” (1988), which was intended to be a sequel to Fulci’s “Zombi 2” (1979), in turn an (apocryphal) sequel to George Romero’s famous film “The Night of the Living Dead” (1968). Fragasso is also responsible for making “Troll 2” (1990), an unintentionally hilarious, supposedly horror film.
Especially in comparison to his other works, “Palermo Milano solo andata” is highly convincing and recommendable. Fragasso more than worthily revisits the genre that twenty years earlier was masterfully cultivated by the Italians Enzo Castellari, Umberto Lenzi and Damiano Damiani, among others. The story of “Palermo Milano…” is an original creation written by Fragasso and his wife, Rosella Drudi, authors of the screenplay.