Silent Action (Sergio Martino, 1975) is an Italian action-thriller that opens with the high-profile deaths of several military officials reported in the papers as either accidental or suicide. Despite not having the audience’s privilege of witnessing these murders, General Inspector Giorgio Solmi (Luc Merenda) immediately smells the rank stench of a political conspiracy smeared onto the sole of his shoe from the second he walks into one of the crime scenes to investigate.
Initially, I thought that the first five minutes of the film would be indicative of all that proceeds, much like Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977): atmospheric music, frenetic editing, quick zooms, extravagant performances, out-of-sync dubbing and unrealistic, but immoderate gore. These formal elements certainly fulfil the criteria of what you would expect when you hear giallo, but the film soon settles from its hyper-stylised beginnings into a more stable constructed narrative. As we follow Solmi through his investigation, the delightful 70s zooms don’t go anywhere, but much of the initial extravagance is lost, which perhaps won’t work for some, but for my money it made for a nice palette cleanser before subsequent action sequences that would once again ramp up the drama to extreme lengths. The contrast between the two worlds of mundane police bureaucracy and heightened action thrills does jar, but that’s part of the charm of it. It’s a little like going on a roller coaster ride and having a slow bit before doing twenty loops at breakneck speed, only to then have another slow, flat section before doing it all again. Some people (yours truly included) get their kicks off such chaotic movements.
The action sequences range from laughable incoherence (the opening scene is ludicrously bemusing thanks to some bizarre editing choices), to edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting car chases, but all of them are thoroughly entertaining either way. Certainly, the best chase in Silent Action never reaches the speeds or the dialogue-less grace of Bullitt (Peter Yates, 1968), but it is nonetheless tense, has little dialogue and is very effective, thus reminding me fondly of Steve McQueen bouncing down San Francisco hills.
Unfortunately, there is a definite queasiness to the uncritical police violence portrayed in the film (‘It was necessary for the sake of the job!’), particularly as Giorgio is otherwise shown to be an unflinching and honourable police officer in comparison to the slackers and general incompetence around him. This only becomes relevant in one scene near the end of the film, but it is still difficult to stomach, nonetheless.
Perhaps inevitably, not everything ages well from this era of movies, but thankfully the HD restoration of Silent Action ensures that the visuals of the film have, and it truly is very beautiful to look at. The restoration is ostensibly a loving tribute to Martino’s original aesthetic vision for the film, and the colours, textures and tones of the film feel all the more impactful because of it. In the Special Features, there is an interview with Martino, amongst others, that provides further illumination on his directorial vision, and is an enjoyable addition to an already entertaining movie.
@FracVis #SilentAction
Fractured Visions presents Silent Action on Blu-ray 12 April: https://www.fracvis.co.uk/
