Climber, The / L'ambizioso (1975)

3.0 out of 5

Actor Joe Dallesandro's entrance into Italian crime films was a welcome departure from the Warhol/Paul Morrisey movies. Though The Climber is an imperfect fit, Dallesandro's presence, the movie's strong camerawork, and a music score that sounds vaguely reminiscent of early Def Leppard don't hurt things any. For all the nudity Dallesandro obliged the Morrisey films, he wears a lot of clothes in this flick, especially impressive being a raspberry suit. A bewildering insert of Giovanni Cianfriglia, buck-naked in a shower, however, is troubling. Movie manages to make the idle and properly sordid lifestyles of the rich appear boring, while the scrappy punks working their way up the criminal tree in Naples get all the cool chases and fights. Dallesandro is not only beaten up quite a bit, but there is the needless decimation of his beautiful motorcycle. Movie could just have easily been entitled: "Random Gang Violence In Naples".

Maurizio Merli header graphic courtesy of Paddy O'Neill of Foxyfide Graphics