Director: Jacques Becker Year: 1954 Rating: 8.0 Country: France
Jean Gabin as Max is a world weary gangster who shows every year like a
100 year of tree that has been through too many storms. He has done one last
job that is big enough to get him out for good, but some others want to take
it off him. This is one of the classic French crime films of the 1950's along
with Rififi, Bob Le Flambeur and Ascenseur pour l'echafaud. Like most of
these crime films from France in the 50's and 60's the drama, character,
male bonding and the gangster milieu counts for more than any action. Even
Melville who so influenced John Woo keeps violence to a minimum. Director
Becker takes the viewer into the streets and cafes of Paris in slow seductive
detail.
Look for Jeanne Moreau as Josie in one of her early roles (I didn't even
recognize her till late in the film) and for the stunning Marily Buferd as
Betty who was from America. But of course Gabin, who was still hugely popular
in France after he reached middle age, holds the film together with his calm
fatalistic performance.
