Rififi (1955)

Directed by Jules Dassin; produced by René Bezard, Henri Bérard, Pierre Cabaud

Tony le Stéphanois (Jean Servais) has just been released from prison, after a five-year term for jewel thievery. He’s reluctant to start any fresh caper, even with his good and trusted allies Jo le Suédois (Carl Möhner) and Mario Ferrati (Robert Manuel). But after a confrontation with his former girlfriend, Mado (Marie Sabouret), who took up with another man the week after Tony’s sentencing, he counts himself in. But the simple smash-and-grab Jo and Mario envisioned isn’t enough: instead of a few gems from a shop-front window, the three associates determine to rob the safe inside. But though they may get away with the jewels, their troubles will only be starting.

Even as a drama, Rififi is an excellent film, with well-defined characters, well-written dialogue, excellent performances and direction that brings it all together. The men and women who populate the movie are realistic, their actions and reactions are realistic. The underworld depicted is not a deep study of the power-politics behind organised crime, but a slice of the lives of a small group of crooks, men and women who live by theft, assault and blackmail. Nonetheless, the four main characters come across as sympathetic, largely due to their loyalty to one another.

Servais is the lynchpin of the cast, as he makes Tony a tired, middle-aged hood, seemingly ready to get out of the life in which he’s always lived, but unable to resist a good caper. This type of character may be common in crime-films, but when it’s done well, it’s always fresh. Jo and Mario are happier men, each with his family life (Jo’s young child is Tony’s godson), and there is interest in seeing criminals (whose activities are, after all, largely part-time work) enjoying the bosom and joys of home. A contrast to this is Tony, whose prison stretch excludes him from such bliss. In each case, the actor creates a convincing portrait.

The dialogue doesn’t delve into the personalities of the characters much; these come out in their actions. Spoken words stick very closely to carrying the plot, except at the beginning, as when we learn that Tony’s five years in jail spared Jo any prison-time. Aside from such introductions, we must glean what we can from what we see done.

The direction by Dassin, who also excellently plays (under the pseudonym Perlo Vita) Cesar the safe-breaker, is top-notch. One would expect no less from the director of Brute Force, Night and the City and The Naked City. Special attention must have been given to the extras involved; their faces and attitudes go a great way to creating atmosphere.

And on the subject of atmosphere, Dassin’s use of locations is well-conceived, showing a slight distortion of the Paris that many might expect: there is the unmistakable architecture, the broad boulevards, the cafés – but mostly in a type of gloom that isn’t just the result of black-and-white photography. It’s no coincidence that many of the scenes are wet with rain, dark with night or dim with clouds. Despite Jo’s glad home-life and Mario’s hilarity, the world these people inhabit is more in keeping with Tony’s frowning and slightly tubercular grimness.

The centre-piece of Rififi is the heist itself. Like many aspects of the movie, it is treated radically different than the novel that inspired the film. The scene runs more than half an hour and is without music or words. Yet it neither drags nor loses interest: half the time the viewer is wondering why the crooks are doing something – we are not privy to their detailed plan, after all – but moments later, we are enlightened. The scene is as instructional as it is entertaining.

Though the heist is what most talk about when discussing Rififi, there is an equally exciting scene at the end, when Tony races to return his godson to his home. What is astonishing about this sequence – also almost without dialogue – is that there is no question how it will end, yet it remains tense until its final seconds.

Rififi is a drama and a caper-film, film noir and character study, fashioned by a master movie-maker and presented by a first-rate cast and crew.