Charles Bronson stars in Città Violenta (Violent City) as a hitman double-crossed by his lover (Jill Ireland) so he sets out to get his revenge both on her and the mob boss who put her up to it (Telly Savalas). It is the only film ever released to star Bronson, Ireland, Savalas and Stirling Moss. The former would become one of the biggest movie stars of the 1970s, largely in roles much like this one; Sergio Sollima’s film makes the most of his ice cold killer persona and is a gritty but stylish affair, highlighted by a first-rate car chase which opens the film and a stunningly-realised finale.
Ironically those two scenes are unscored but the film is otherwise carried a long way by Ennio Morricone’s stunning score. He scores the film almost entirely from the point of view of Bronson’s character, emphasising what’s going through his head and what he’s feeling at any particular time, and in doing so creates a fascinating psychological portrait.
Before that starts, we get a main title cue of the highest calibre – stabbing low-end piano and a multitude of wailing guitars combine to create an unsettling, dissonant feeling underneath a dynamic, rhythmically jarring melodic motif which (in typical fashion) Morricone finds a multitude of uses for. It sets the scene so well – on the one hand stylish and ironically very catchy, on the other always somewhat off-kilter and with an underlying menace.
It’s not quite the same, but a very closely-related motif forms the basis of the main secondary theme “Rito Finale” – again with the wailing guitar underpinning it all, this time oh-so-Morriconean staccato punches from the strings create further tension and excitement.
While there are several variations on those two themes as the score progresses (my favourite being “Normie Con Ironie” which combines them both), this is not one of those Morricone scores which is largely theme-and-variation because there are numerous standalone set-pieces to go alongside that. “Mille Volte Un Grido” is an extremely taut piece of suspense writing where those dissonant guitars this time take centre-stage, creating some unique and challenging sonic textures.
That is far from easy listening but there’s a contrast in the ironic love theme first heard in “Momento Estremo”, a romantic melody developing before tension wraps it up again, a piano motif slowly ratcheting that up which develops into a variant on the secondary theme for a blast of action. A darker variant on that love theme arrives in “Con Estrema Dolcezza” which sees the composer subtly interpolate Beethoven’s “Für Elise”, an easter egg which was part of (I think) all of his scores for director Sollima.
One of the real highlights of the score is the action music – there are a few absolute barnstormers which all feature the same basic building blocks but are melodically unique. The first of these is “Svolta Definitiva” – guitar, bass, hammond organ and drum kit play a piece of glorious early 70s funk and it’s just glorious. And there’s plenty more where that came from – “Disperatamente” is even better, with its frenzied vocals and percussion creating a sense of manic chaos against the central funky melody which is just so cool.
Città Violenta is a breathtaking piece of work – the nervous energy that runs through it is so impressive and makes it such a compelling listen. Some may find it challenging at times but, even in the moments where it heads slightly into dissonant territory, I don’t – it’s just so dazzling, there’s so much going on, the composer using all of the arranging skills honed in the earlier part of his career to make sure not a note is wasted. I think it’s one of the essential albums in any Morricone collection.
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