It starts off with a manic motorcycle chase. A woman has not only had her purse snatched she’s been brutally beaten by two men on a motorcycle. Two cops set off in pursuit. It’s not only a frenzied adrenaline rush of a chase it also tells us quite a bit about these two cops. Alfredo (Marc Porel) and Alberto (Ray Lovelock) are partners and they work together like a well-oiled machine. They never give up. And they have no time at all for such legal niceties as due process or suspects’ rights. Their idea of crime-fighting is that violent criminals need killing and they’re happy to do the killing. They’re nutters so it’s just as well they’re on the side of the good guys.
We find out that they work for a police Special Force. It’s an elite squad that doesn’t mind bending the rules a little. Alfredo and Alberto don’t just bend the rules, they ignore them completely. Even in the Special Force they’re considered to be dangerous and crazy but they get results.
The main plot thread concerns a big-time gangster named Pasquini. The Special Force has been trying to nail him for several years. Now Pasquini has had a senior Special Force officer assassinated. So Alfredo and Alberto are now really keen to get Pasquini. Their task may however be complicated by police corruption at a high level.
Alfredo and Alberto find time to get involved in plenty of other violent situations, such a siege which they deal with in their own individual style. Their style is messy but it works.
They also find plenty of time to chase women.
Our two cop heroes decide to put some pressure on Pasquini, which they do with the aid of lots of explosions. That’s usually a good way to get someone’s attention.
The trouble with Pasquini is that he’s obsessive about covering his tracks. Nobody knows where to find him. Alfredo and Alberto do however know where his sister Lina lives. They decide to interrogate her. Their interrogation methods are somewhat unorthodox. They involve both Alfredo and Alberto having sex with her. They don’t get any useful information but Lina really enjoys this method of interrogation.
Unfortunately while our two rogue cops are hunting Pasquini at the same time Pasquini is also hunting them. Their best chance of survival is to find him before he finds them.
That opening motorcycle chase is justly famous but it’s just one of a series of amazing action set-pieces. The shoot-out at the quarry is inspired. It’s also like something out of a spaghetti western. Ruggero Deodato had been assistant director on Sergio Corbucci’s classic spaghetti western Django and Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man does have a bit of a spaghetti western feel, with the two heroes being more like gunslingers than cops.
It’s an extremely violent movie. I’m not always a fan of ultra-violent cop movies but the violence in this movie is stylish and imaginative rather than merely crude and the movie lacks the extreme nihilism that sometimes afflicts the poliziotteschi genre.
The humour has some lighter moments to balance the violence and some of the violence has a definite black comedy tinge to it.
There’s a bit of nudity but not too much. In fact by 1976 standards very little.
Marc Sorel and Ray Lovelock make a great team. They’re both charismatic and they both have a rogueish charm. The presence of Adolfo Celi in the cast (playing their long-suffering boss) is a bonus. The entire cast acquits itself well.
I should add that Ray Lovelock gets to sing - his ballads are interspersed throughout the movie.
The Raro Video DVD (they’ve released in on Blu-Ray as well) offers an excellent transfer and is apparently pretty much uncut (it’s a movie that had quite a few censorship problems). There are some sparse liner notes and a very good 42-minute documentary, Violent Cops, featuring interviews with many of those involved in the production including director Ruggero Deodato and star Ray Lovelock (both of whom are, quite righty, proud of this movie).
I have mixed feelings about the the poliziotteschi genre but Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man is now easily my favourite representative of the genre. It’s fast and furious and incredibly stylish and very entertaining. Very highly recommended.
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