The Crook (1971)

Powerful

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Jean-Louis Trintignant (Simon) has escaped from prison. He is on the run and hijacks Danièle Delorme (Janine) for a place to hang out until he can get hold of some money that he previously stashed away and make his bid for freedom.The film seems complicated and difficult to follow because the director Claude Lelouch has really messed up on this one. I didn't realize until towards the end that what I had been watching had been a flashback. There is no way of knowing. I spent a lot of the film thinking that it just didn't make sense, especially when Trintignant is arrested over a kidnapping. They seem to know where he is so why didn't they just arrest him earlier given that he has escaped from jail? The reason is because the whole kidnap sequence is a flashback and he hasn't yet been to jail. There is also a confusing part at the beginning where he seems to be telling people he is in different countries whilst he retrieves some money and hands it over to someone else. What is happening?However, the story is actually quite good once you get your head around the fact that you may have missed countless flashbacks. I pretty much watched the whole film as a straight narrative – because that is how the director presents the film – and was ready to sling it on the reject pile as being ridiculously non-sensical. Viewer beware, there is a point or maybe several points where this film goes back in time. Once things don't make sense, you are probably in the flashback part of the story and if you understand this, the film is actually quite good. It needs a second viewing. My copy is dubbed in English – does anyone know if there is a sub-titled version?

Claude Lelouch was at the top of his career when he conceived this immensely satisfying thriller. Not having seen it, we caught with it recently thanks to finding it in DVD format. The only bad aspect of the disc we watched was the poor sound track it had, we had to keep pumping up the volume during the dialogs and lowering it whenever the musical number of the film-within-the-film was shown. As with most of his movies, Mr. Lelouch relied on Francis Lai to create the score. The most amusing scene happens when Simon is being interrogated by the police and the inspector tells Simon about a "man and a woman" and Simon, without missing a beat begins to sing the music from the real "A Man and a Woman", a film by Mr. Lelouch, where the same actor, Jean-Louis Trintignant appeared.The film will probably confuse some viewers because there is no clear indication that after Simon meets Jeanine and goes to see Martine at the park and his subsequent escape to either Spain, Switzerland, or Genoa, the narrative will go back to tell the real story in flashbacks. Other than that minor incident, "Le Voyou" is a perfect movie about a caper and the people that planned it.Jean-Louis Trintignant was also at one of his best moments in the French cinema. He is a joy to watch as the slick Simon, who is always a step ahead of everyone else. Danielle Delorme, Christine Lelouch, Charles Gerard, Yves Robert and Charles Denner, do excellent work for the director.Another interesting fact is that Claude Lelouch did the interesting cinematography in the film. His camera angles, especially when the inspector is interrogating the Galloises after their son has been kidnapped, he shows the couple on both sides of the police, of whom we only see the back of his head. The chase scenes are cleverly done, showing cars speeding through the Parisian streets.This is a highly recommended film for fans of the genre and Mr. Lelouch.

This is a brilliant, charming film. To the poster wanting "Merci Simca" to become a common well-known phrase- I totally agree. This movie has it all- wit, charm, great acting, clever script, great use of flashbacks, inventive crimes, great car chase thru the 70's streets of Paris- an almost perfect film. This movie is easily the equal of other classic French crime films of the time- it's a shame it is so little known. You may be thrown a bit (as was I) when characters are doing things out of character, not realizing it's a flashback, but that only adds to the experience- I'd rather be confused for a few minutes than have some obvious corny announcement that a flashback is coming, like squiggly dream lines appearing on screen. I had heard nothing of this film and had no expectations, and was blown away. This film was 25 years ahead of its time, it's kind of a forerunner to comedy/crime films such as Pulp Fiction, True Lies, Go, etc., but superior to all those.

Lelouche and Trintignant combine for a deft, lighter touch than their normal weighty collaborations. Full of wry touches, there is never a pause in the mind's contribution and nothing conventional to help you catch your breath. This is the kind of movie that you wish Hollywood could make but it never does, full of layers of complexity and wit, this mini-masterpiece improves with each repeated viewing.