poliziotteschi

thumb|Gastone Moschin in [[Caliber 9 (1972), directed by Fernando Di Leo]] Poliziotteschi (; : poliziottesco) constitute a subgenre of crime and action films that emerged in Italy in the late 1960s and reached the height of their popularity in the 1970s. They are also known as '''''polizieschi all'italiana, Italo-crime, spaghetti crime films, or simply Italian crime films'. Influenced primarily by both 1970s French crime films and gritty 1960s and 1970s American cop films and vigilante films (among other influences), poliziotteschi films were made amidst an atmosphere of socio-political turmoil in Italy known as Years of Lead and amidst increasing Italian crime rates. The films generally featured graphic and brutal violence, organized crime, car chases, vigilantism, heists, gunfights, and corruption up to the highest levels. The protagonists were generally tough working class loners, willing to act outside a corrupt or overly bureaucratic system.

== Etymology of the noun == In Italian, is the grammatically correct Italian adjective (resulting from the fusion of the noun , "police", and the desinence , "related to", akin to the English "-esque") for police-related dramas, ranging from Ed McBain's police procedural novels to forensic science investigations. In Italian media, is used generally to indicate every detective fiction production where police forces (Italian or foreign) are the main protagonists.