Political corruption! Scandal! Media scapegoating! Murder!

No, dear readers, you aren't reading my review of last night's CNN broadcast (although I don't think I'm veering that far off the mark), I'm reviewing Blue Underground's latest release of Damiano Damiani's How To Kill A Judge. How well can a vicious look at Italy's infamous decade of political fervor hold up over thirty years later? All too well, it seems.

Franco Nero (the infamous Django) stars as Giacomo Solaris, a film director whose latest film satirizes the corrupt life of prominent judge Traini (Marco Guglielmi), skewering him for his ties to the Mafia, his murdering of political opponents, and general nastiness. His film ends with the “fictitious” judge being gunned down by one of his Mafia ties for talking too much. Despite the protests of his wife and his assistants, Traini leaves Solaris alone, finding the film more amusing than damning, an opinion which is shown in a positively surreal scene where Traini watches the film with smug enthusiasm.

Of course, we all know that old line about life imitating art, and Traini is found dead in his car. Solaris faces the double-edged sword of his film becoming a smash hit even as he is blamed for inspiring the murder of the judge by the press and Traini's wife Antonia (Francoise Fabian). Feeling guilt over the judge's murder, Solaris launches his own investigation, trying to find out who killed Traini even as he attempts to prove to Antonia that his movie was not purely celluloid slander. Unfortunately, how can you uncover the truth when absolutely everyone else is trying to bury it?

The strangest part about How To Kill A Judge is how disturbingly relevant it still is even today. This is the kind of movie that could be remade with with the very same script, although with different actors and Americanized names, and it could easily be released into theaters as a “Grishamesque thriller.” While it rings especially true of the time period in which it is set, scandal and double-crossing are universal themes throughout the years.

Of course, this relevance would ring hollow if it weren't a great film, which How To Kill A Judge certainly is. I normally could care less about these socio-political thrillers, yet HTKAJ kept me glued through all of its 111 minutes. Be it the inimitable presence of Nero, the intrigue of the shadowy “political party” pulling the strings of those around them, Damiani's taut direction, or the infectious score by the always-awesome Riz Ortolani, there's countless hooks in this film to keep your attention.

Greatest of all of these hooks is the human element of the film: these characters are remarkably meaty and substantial and offer up some intriguing moments. Even as Solaris is defending the integrity of his film, he has to face Traini's now-orphaned son, who still believes his father to be a great man. When the truth finally does come out (and it's one hell of a twist), Solaris has to fight the protestations of the press, who would rather continue continue down their path of sleazy journalism that sells papers instead of the ultimately mundane revelation. There's mobsters on dialysis, gunmen on motorbikes...there's more going on that in a dozen movies of this type, but you never once lose sight of what's really going on. Now that's a great film!

What else can I say about presentation excepts that it's a Blue Underground release? You know the deal: great colors, minimal damage, solid blacks...come on guys! Screw up a release so I can complain! I'm kidding of course. Audio came in one of two mono mixes, either an English dub or the original Italian. Now here's where it gets a little weird. The English subs were based off of the English dub, which featured some inserts of additional dialogue to spell out the story for non-Italian audiences (which I really didn't see the need for). It leads to a slightly odd experience as you watch subtitles popping up in scenes with one-sided phone conversations or, even worse, scenes without dialogue whatsoever! Huh? Extras include include an eye-opening featurette with Damiani and Nero, and two trailers for the film.

Weird subtitling aside, How To Kill A Judge is a damn fine movie. Blue Underground continues to please with one of the most varied and remarkable catalogs out there, and HTKAJ is just another feather in their cap. Highly recommended.