Uno Bianca (DVD Review)

1 Mar, 2006 By: Erik Gruenwedel

Uno Bianca

Prebook 3/10/06; Street 3/28/06
No Shame Films
Action
$29.95 two-DVD set
Not rated.
In Italian with English subtitles.
Stars Kim Rossi-Stuart, Dino Abbrescia.

Valerio (Rossi-Stuart) is an honest cop assigned to work undercover with partner Rocco (Abbrescia) and monitor a gang of rogue police who have been committing violent bank robberies and murders.

Directed by Michele Soavi, the 2001 made-for-Italian-TV movie is based loosely on the infamous Uno Bianca Gang of corrupt police officers who killed 24 and injured 114 during a 10-year crime spree from 1984 to 1994.

The well-shot drama ratchets up the suspense when Valerio infiltrates the gang and appears at times to be both welcomed and distrusted by the gang leader.

Rossi-Stuart, who looks a bit like a young Pierce Brosnan, is convincing as a cop determined to root out evil from his police department while looking over his shoulder and trying not to let the stress of the job overwhelm his home life, including his girlfriend's pregnancy.

Notably absent from the film: death and bloodshed. Perhaps Italian TV, like U.S. TV, frowns on gratuitous violence and sex. But in a story about violent thugs yelling, screaming, posturing and gun-pointing, it wouldn't have been a stretch if at least one person got hurt or killed.

The DVD includes new interviews with producers and cinematographer and two behind-the-scenes featurettes. The first 7,000 units have white cardboard Fiat model car.