Rififi (1955)

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

(Flash Review)This well-paced jewelry heist film has many unique scenes and stellar cinematography. Tony, just released from a five year stint in prison is ready to return to his old ways with his old pals as they have a solid caper strategized. Like many heist and gangster films, there are a few different groups of thieves attempting to outsmart the other to be the last ones standing at the end or with jewels. Beyond those aspects, the most famous part of this film is the brilliant heist scene. The director puts a lot of time into how the main thieves plan and practice, through trial and error, how to beat the alarm system. Just like with the planning, during the heist there is minimal dialog and no music so the viewer is affixed to the scenes eagerly awaiting how things will play out. There are many gritty scenes and interesting characters and this all takes place in classic Paris. A standout film in the Noir era.

This is the toughest, most spellbinding and, finally, enervating film I have ever seen. The protagonist, Toni Le Stephanois, as played by Jean Servais is out for a big score - the safe - as his time as a mastermind and tough guy is running out. The meticulous planning and the flawless - almost - execution of the heist had me and I am sure most of the audience wanting the crims to get away with it. And notice that the thieves plan to use their cut to make life better for those they love or care for. Only the rootless Toni cannot give an answer to the question of what he will do with his share. Should the thieves have merely sought to live it up on their ill-gotten gains, we might have wanted them caught. As with all tragedies, we often want the doomed protagonists to somehow be spared. However, it cannot be.Once the real bad guys realize who has done the heist, things can only become more and more brutal. And all that is left is for Toni to repair some of the damage done.Toni's final drive through the streets of Paris as he bleeds to death from a gunshot wound leaves me drained. The subjective camera swirls and jump cuts and the soundtrack oscillates as Toni's visual and aural perceptions move in and out of focus as he struggles onward to redemption.The film is a masterpiece. See it at least once in your life and you will never forget it.Rififi - it certainly is rough and tumble.

Tony Stephanois, just out of prison and angry at his girl Mado's infidelity, decides to join his pals Jo and Mario in an ambitious crime. With Italian safe expert Cesar, they meticulously plan the burglary of a large jewelry establishment.This film is probably best known for two things: one, the half hour heist sequence that has absolutely no dialogue and no music, just the sounds of the men at work. Which is, by the way, wonderfully brilliant. And two, the fact the director was American but was working in France because he was targeted as part of the Hollywood blacklist.This is a great film. Obviously not the first film noir, not by a long shot, but clearly influential on future crime movies. Was "Ocean's 11" inspired by this film? Maybe, maybe not, but it seems like the two could be brothers.

This is the classic examination of the Perfect Robbery by and starring Jules Dassin, influenced by The Asphalt Jungle and the French-type connection between The Lavender Hill Mob and Dassin's later own Topkapi, albeit a little more earthy. Dassin gets to glorify the gangsters a little, but the end moral remained the same.A rather craggy looking guy gets out of jail and is immediately embroiled in a new bank heist, as part of a gang of four well-oiled thugs and hoods and their molls, all of them all too human. The robbery is meticulously planned and executed in almost complete silence and is totally absorbing in its ballet-like intensity. Cesar made only one error but it sure let down Tony, Jo and Mario along with the real baddies in the long run, however he didn't let us the viewers down because it makes for another absorbing last half hour, if a little savage at times. 45 year old Jean Sevais who played Tony was the only true hard boiled individual in here, the rest were either soft boiled or punks – at one point Jo's wife goes moralistic speculating out that poverty stricken youths who stay honest were the real tough guys. There's some marvellous character acting by all of the main protagonists, amidst the gloomy atmospheric splendour of a rainy and damp Paris.It's as simple as it gets, and as beautiful – sure, it's certainly of its time as is everything but it's wearing very well and is still supreme entertainment.