Rififi (1955)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Rififi (1955) – J. Dassin

Jules Dassin’s Rififi is one of the very best of the French films noir. Not only do we have an aging and weary gangster (Jean Servais), recently released from prison to find he was betrayed by his girlfriend. We also have a young gang eager to make a big score by breaking into the safe of a well-known Parisian jeweller (with Dassin himself as the safecracker imported from Italy). Although Tony the Stephanois (Servais) isn’t initially interested in the heist (advertised first as a smash-and-grab through the store’s front window), eventually he takes over the planning which results in a heralded 32-minute “silent” scene with the gang breaking through the ceiling of the store as quietly as they can (until they can disable the alarm system). But as with Kubrick’s The Killing (released the following year), the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Indeed, the complications after the heist seem to take up at least as much of the run-time as the planning and heist itself. And noir being noir, the unravelling is gloriously messy, with Tony working strenuously to hold things together – with honour – as they slowly fall apart.  Although Dassin doesn’t rely heavily on noir lighting or expressionistic cinematography, the mise-en-scene is perfectly French and yes, perfectly noir.