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Rififi

(1955)

Jules Dassin's French noir is justly famous for its wonderfully staged, silent heist sequence (indeed, until that scene, the film is merely diverting). But there's still almost an hour left after the robbery of the jewellery store safe.

The central figure is newly released con Tony Le Stephanois (Jean Servais), not so healthy and living by a criminal's code that quickly highlights that he isn't going to be earning our sympathies any time soon (he takes his belt to his ex-girlfriend's back on discovering that she has been seeing a rival gangster Grutter).

Following the robbery he is asked what he will do with his share and he responds that he doesn't know. We're unsurprised by this as he has already been looking for some sort of death wish showdown with Grutter. The post-heist disintegration of plans and escalation of threats to the team is grippingly played, as it becomes evident that all eventualities were only accounted for in the robbery, not the aftermath.

Beautifully shot by Phillipe Agostini, the film's been hugely influential on the crime genre; what impresses is how unremittingly brutal the characters are. The implied violence is far more powerful than the overt physicality of many modern equivalents. Dassin himself plays one of Tony's crew, the appealing Italian safecracker Cesar.

****1/2

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