Kriminal (film)

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Kriminal
Kriminal-1966-poster.jpg
Italian film poster
Directed by Umberto Lenzi
Screenplay byUmberto Lenzi [1]
Story byUmberto Lenzi [1]
Starring
CinematographyAngelo Lotti [1]
Edited by
  • Jolanda Benvenutti
  • Antonio Gimeno [1]
Music by Romano Mussolini [1]
Production
companies
  • Filmes Cinematografica
  • Estela Films
  • Copercines [1]
Release date
  • 1966 (1966)
Countries
  • Italy
  • Spain [1]
LanguageItalian

Kriminal is a 1966 superhero film directed and written by Umberto Lenzi. The film is about a thief and murderer called Kriminal (Glenn Saxson) who escapes from a prison and is chased after by Inspector Milton (Andrea Bosic). It was followed by a sequel, Il marchio di Kriminal (lit. The Mark of Kriminal).

Contents

Cast

Production

In August 1964, the fumetti neri series Kriminal began publication. [1] The comics often contained themes of sex and violence, which included the title character seducing scantily-dressed women, then strangling or stabbing them to conceal his identity. [1] [2] Director Umberto Lenzi stated that he initially wanted to make a comic book-inspired film with an adaptation of Diabolik . [3] Lenzi found himself unable to get the rights to Diabolik, which had purchased by Dino De Laurentiis. [3] Lenzi then attempted an adaptation of Satanik , but eventually settled on Kriminal. [3] Lenzi argued with Kriminal's creator Luciano Secchi about the changes he made with the character, which Lenzi would later describe as "a bit Nazi-skin fascist. We made a fun film." [4] Lenzi opted for a lighter tone in contrast to the combination of sex and violence present in the fumetti. [4]

The lead role was played by Dutch actor Roel Bos under the name "Glenn Saxson", who previously had leading roles in Spaghetti Westerns such as Go with God, Gringo. [5] Bos did a screen test for Lenzi, who was looking to portray Kriminal as a younger character compared to his fumetti counterpart. [6]

Shooting for the film lasted approximately two months. [3] Interiors were shot in Rome, while exteriors were filmed in Madrid, Istanbul, The Black Sea and London. [3] Most of the physical stunts in the film were performed by Bos' double Attilio Serverini, except for one of the more dangerous sequences involving Kriminal running atop a speeding train. [3]

Release

Kriminal was released in 1966. [7] The film was described by film historian Roberto Curti as being "moderately successful", which resulted in a sequel, Il marchio di Kriminal , directed by Fernando Cerchio, being released the following year. [8] As of 2016, there has been no official English-language DVD of Kriminal. [8]

Reception

In a retrospective review, Curti wrote that Kriminal is "fast, fun and entertaining overall, but it is also disappointingly tame." [8] Curti mentioned that the film is "lacking the comic book's tongue-in-cheek attitude and political uncorrectness, while much of the film looked more like one of those travelogue James Bond rip-offs that were flooding the screens at the time." [4]

Lenzi later noted that when he re-watched the film on television, that it "seemed even better than when I shot in 1966: then I was a bit perplexed, now I appreciate the aspect of irony in it, something which comic strips didn't have because they were vulgar, horrible." [4]

See also

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References

Footnotes

Sources

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