Tony Arzenta - RC2 Japan DVD

Released in North America as Big Guns, Tony Arzenta is a fast paced crime thriller from Duccio Tessari, director of many Spaghetti Westerns including A Pistol For Ringo and The Return Of Ringo.

Alain Delon (best known for his wonderful performance in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai) plays the title character, a hit man who wants to go into retirement for the safety of his wife and young son. When he mentions it to his boss, Nick (played by Richard Conte, best known in North America as Don Brazini in The Godfather), he goes in turn to his bosses who decide that he knows too much and that they’ll have to make short work of his retirement plans and take him out.

Things go horribly wrong, however, as Arzenta’s wife and son decide to take his care shopping one day and when they start the engine, a car bomb is ignited and kills them both. Arzenta is devastated by this and sets out to avenge their deaths and along the way enlists the aid of a wayward hooker (Erika Blanc of The Devil’s Nightmare).

Despite the presence of a strong supporting cast of Eurocult actors, this movie really is Delon’s show. His screen presence is strong enough and convincing enough that he is able to bring an unlikely sense of sympathy to his character, despite the fact that he is a criminal and a murderer. Though Delon may not necessarily look like an Italian criminal in the traditional sense that someone like Franco Nero or Fabio Testi does, he effectively portrays Arzenta as a stone-faced, revenge driven killer and audiences should not have a problem buying into his characters motives or background.

Also worth noting is the excellent cinematography on display in the film. Whether it’s an action scene with Delon leaping up a flight of stairs and plunging a dagger into a thug’s back or a subtle shot of two men riding in an elevator, Silvano Ippoliti (who would later work with Tinto Brass on that infamous epic of sleaze, Caligula) brings a slick sense of style to the screen that really heightens the tense action scenes and nicely captures the more subtle aspects of the film as well.

The film is not without it’s flaws, however. The score seems out of place a few times and comes across much lighter than it needs to and because of this some of the more dramatic scenes come across as a bit hokey. It should also be noted that the film is a bit predictable if you’ve seen other films from this genre, and there’s really nothing here we haven’t seen before.

That being said, there’s certainly enough ‘right’ about Tony Arzenta for this reviewer to recommend the film to Eurocult buffs or action movie fans. Delon’s performance and some great set pieces make it quite enjoyable and the twist ending might just surprise you a bit.