Overview: In Palermo, Sicily, seasoned police captain Bonavia (Martin Balsam, 12 Angry Men) orders the release of a criminally insane inmate - then watches him set out to assassinate a local construction magnate.

When the plan backfires, Bonavia faces the scrutiny of young and idealistic district attorney Traini (Franco Nero, Django, The Day of the Owl). Neat conceptions of justice, corruption and madness shatter in this hard-hitting investigative thriller from Damiano Damiani (The Day of the Owl, How to Kill a Judge).

Balsam and Nero’s face-off is complemented by a striking supporting cast and an innovative jazz, pop, and electric guitar score by Riz Ortolani (Cannibal Holocaust).

Blu-ray Verdict: Written and directed by Damiano Damiani, who would go on to make Amityville 2, Confessions of a Police Captain is a Poliziotteschi movie with the original Django himself, Franco Nero. This subgenre of Italian film is generally boring and incomprehensible. Confessions is powerfully directed in scenes, keeping your attention, so it is not really boring, though it is still hard to follow in places.

At least I got the central premise, which is more than I can say for most Poliziotteschi. The titular police captain lets a madman out of jail so that he can kill some guy the captain wants dead. Nero investigates. In a shocking scene, a child is murdered, thrown to his death off the side of the cliff. Did not see that coming, trust me!

Confessions of a Police Captain has two characters who actually make an impression on the viewer: Nero’s straight arrow investigator, and the crooked captain. I have often found that you don’t need to fully understand every detail in a movie to appreciate it, so long as you understand the characters’ basic motivations. Thus, Confessions of a Police Captain is a good example of that. It’s a superior Poliziotteschi film. [D.Z.]

Bonus Materials:
2K restoration presented with Italian and English audio options
Uncompressed mono PCM audio

Official Purchase Link