Promoted to captain after the proud performance as "deputy" of Gastone Moschin / Ugo Piazza in "Milano Calibro 9", Mario Adorf brings sun and color in what had been described as a livid town.
Second episode of the "Trilogy of the milieu" by Fernando Di Leo, "La Mala Ordina," which was to be called "Orders from the other world", of 1972 is another story in which all are damned and trapped in a life. And it’s getting worse.
Although less interesting of the masterpiece "Milano Calibro 9", this is still a great Italian noir, most worthy, dense, violent and overwhelming. A plot that does not tire, keeps up the tension high from beginning to end, thanks to a wonderful performance by Mario Adorf, so convincing as to shadow the legendary Adolfo Celi.
The Swiss actor plays Luca Canali a poor pimp, at the end good which is framed by Don Vito Tressoldi (Celi) that triggers him two killers sent by the New York Mafia who believes him guilty of having stolen some money. The two killers a white and a black one in addition to being included in a well-known American film of the nineties, represent a kind of satire of the detective genre. Henry Silva and Woody Stroode the two who play Dave and Frank are also the weakest side of a film that Di Leo manages very well.
The director is in good shape, it takes away all the superfluous, goes straight to the point and above all he suddenly explodes violence, in a story that at some point reverses the parties. The wife and daughter of Canali, (his wife is the talented Sylva Koscina) are killed and he turns from prey to hunter, overcoming every human limit and reaching a climax with the final duel at a junkyard.
A great example of Italian cinema and of the skill of Fernando Di Leo cinema. Sometimes "La Mala Ordina" is a bit 'exaggerated and absurd, the characters of the two killers are a comic aspect unnecessary and especially the two performers do not seem comfortable with the roles.