French Crime Films

[MikeBSG]

The French seem to have enjoyed a lot of success with their crime dramas. Which ones do you like and recommend?

I just watched "Bob le Flambeur," which was mesmerizing. The ending was a little weak, so it didn't beat "Rififfi" in my book, but seeing gangster plots work out in a foreign language gives the proceedings a freshness if the Hollywood product has become too familiar.

[charliechaplinfan]

Mike try Quai Des Orfevres and Les Diaboliques directed by Clouzot and Le Boucher directed by Chabrol. I've enjoyed all these films.

[Ollie]

I will keep reading, hoping to find new great ones to explore. I can offer up a relatively 'modern' entry:

C'est Errivé Près de Chez Vous (1992, also known as MAN BITES DOG):
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/

I was never sure where this film was going, but I'm glad I was patient enough to stick around. This is NOT a film I'd ever expect to be remade by Americans, and I'd be thankful if they never would!

[Mr. Arkadin]

A few that have not been mentioned:

Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
Le Samourai (1967)
Le Quai des brumes (1938)
Le Chienne (1931)
The Crime of M. Lange (1936)
Le Jour Se Leve (1939)
Ascenseur pour l'échafaud (1958)
Tirez sur le pianiste (1962)

Here's a link that might be of some help:

http://tinyurl.com/3kng64

[charliechaplinfan]

Le Quai Des Brumes and Le Jour Se Leve are brilliant examples of the excellence of French cinema. As for the other Mr Arkadin I will be looking into them

[MikeBSG]

I have seen and enjoyed "Quai de Orfevres" from 1947. I especially liked the inspector from that film. In some ways he reminded me of a French Columbo (although the story was not structured like a "Columbo" episode at all.)

I also remembered liking "La Balance" from the mid-80s. The cultural differences between American and French society keeps me interested, I guess. I gave up on American police TV shows a long time ago, pretty much figuring that I had seen every conceivable plot varation beaten into the ground.

[klondike]

Hey, Mike!
My experience with classic French crime cinema is so-so at best, but do let me recommend a trio of modern French crime films, all excellent, all featuring the incomparable Jean Reno (whom you'd likely recall from American crime/spy flicks like Mission: Impossible, Ronin, The DaVinci Code & Luc Besson's masterful The Professional).
They are: Rivieres Pourprere;

Wasabi!;

& Les Anges de l'Apocalypse.

[vallo]

I'll add to the list a French/American film Directed by Roger Avary (A Tarantino Protégé ) Called "Killing Zoe" from 1994. Great caper film with Eric Stolz and Jean-Hugues Anglade who is absolutely captivating as the Gun Crazed Eric in the film. Not to be missed.


Bill (vallo)

[MikeBSG]

I just watched "Grisbi" this morning.

An interesting movie. In some ways, "Bob le Flambeur" seemed like a remake of this film. (Aging gangster tries one big heist.) The plot of "Grisbi" seemed so-so, but Jean Gabin made it work. He was utterly believable and seemed like a human tank. Gino Ventura was also eye-catching as the bad guy.

[Ann Harding]

The film's title is 'Touchez Pas au Grisbi' (don't touch the loot). It was Lino Ventura's first picture. He indeed has enormous screen presence, even Gabin said so after seing him for the first time. He was former wrestler from Italian origin. He became one of the most important figures of French crime pictures in the 60s and 70s. you should check him also in Melville's Le Deuxième Souffle (1966) and in Melville's L'Armée des Ombres (1969). The last one is more a war picture, but it's really constructed like a thriller.

[moira finnie]

Touchez Pas Au Grisbi (1953), directed by Jacques Becker, which I saw prior to Bob Le Flambeur, always seemed to be a much richer film to me. I admit it. It's all because of the magisterial presence of Jean Gabin, who gives one of the quietest and most compelling performances as an aging gangster that has ever been recorded on film. More than a gangster flick, it's about age, friendship, settling, and letting go. And it's funny. There are so many things I love about Touchez Pas Au Grisbi. I think I have to see this one again. Soon.

I also love Lino Ventura in this movie and just about any time he pops up in a movie, period. The Ventura interview that is part of the Criterion dvd is very interesting to me. Like his mentor, Gabin, he was an enigmatic yet magnetic presence. Though Ventura brought his own, somewhat coarser intelligence and manly grace to films in the '50s-'70s, I think one of my favorites will always be one of the first films I ever saw him in: La Bonne Année (1973), though the recent re-emergence of L'Armée des Ombres (1969) was wonderful to see too.

On a purely shallow entertainment level (yeah!!) I would love to see a film that used to be shown on Million Dollar Movie in NYC all the time in the '70s: Les Aventuriers (1967) with Alain Delon, Joanna Shimkus (Mrs. Sidney Poitier to you and me), and Ventura as adventurers in glamorous settings looking cool with Francois du Roubaix music filling in all the gaps in the plot. The tag line says all you need to know about this movie: Daredevil Pilot...Grand Prix Driver...Wild Beauty...Ptted Against a Pack of Human Sharks!

Has anyone else ever seen this wonderful bit of escapism?

[Ann Harding]

On a purely shallow entertainment level (yeah!!) I would love to see a film that used to be shown on Million Dollar Movie in NYC all the time in the '70s: Les Aventuriers (1967) with Alain Delon, Joanna Shimkus (Mrs. Sidney Poitier to you and me), and Ventura as adventurers in glamorous settings looking cool with Francois du Roubaix music filling in all the gaps in the plot. The tag line says all you need to know about this movie: Daredevil Pilot...Grand Prix Driver...Wild Beauty...Ptted Against a Pack of Human Sharks!
Has anyone else ever seen this wonderful bit of escapism?

You bet your life that I've seen it!!! Actually the tag lines are pretty ridiculous. The film is better than what they suggest. It's a wonderful story of friendship between two men (Alain Delon, Lino Ventura) and One woman (Joanna Shimkus). The film was shot in very special place which I love intensely. It's a small island on the Atlantic (near La Rochelle). This tiny island (7km long) is called l'Ile d'Aix. They also used a XVIIIth century fort nearby: Fort Boyard. Just for that reason, it's a movie worth catching!!! It has been released recently on DVD in France. If you want to check it: click here. (No English subs, but French subs for HoH)

[Ollie]

When I finish with this last batch of films to watch, I'll be asking for more. Thanks for all of these titles.

[Ann Harding]

I just want to give a link to a good website which will give you more ideas regarding French film noir & crime:
http://filmsdefrance.com/Best_Policiers.html

This website is in English.

You can navigate through actors, directors or film period. I think it's a good way to discover French classic cinema.

[Ollie]

On a subject that barely is mentioned, I'll be interested in finding common supporting actors in these, as if some of these stalwarts helped 'prop up' or create these films' memories.

I discover so many great supporting actors are littered among my favorite films to the point that I question if I like the stars or, because of good supporting actors, I give the film extra credit from my first 'watching'. "Does their appearance alone grant me some pleasure that makes me want to enjoy this film more than the film or stars might?"

I suspect there's some of that. Someone can throw in Allen Jenkins, Charles Lane, Fred Clark or even miscast Eugene Pallette in ROBIN HOOD, and I don't care - I like those actors too much.

But supporting actors are barely mentioned in film histories, and as I'm watching films from the above posts, I'm trying to see how many common 'support actors' I can see and/or notice. Normally, this doesn't occur until several re-watchings, so I'm using a 'scorecard' to cheat a bit! ha ha