Touchez Pas au Grisbi (1959)

Memorable, crazy movie

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

After picking up auteur film maker Jacques Becker's Casque d'Or,I remembered that I had gotten hold of another Becker Film Noir ages ago,that I've never got round to watching.Finding the title in a DVD folder,I got set to once again enter Becker's Film Noir world.The plot:Stealing bars of gold,gentlemen gangsters Max Menteur and pal Henri Riton get set for the perfect retirement.Despite knowing the rules of the land,Max reveals to his mistress Josey about the robbery.Unknown to Max,Josey has recently become the lover of up- coming gangster Angelo Fraiser.Learning about the robbery,Fraiser and his gang decide to show the gentlemen gangsters that a new group rule the land.View on the film:Showing not one drop of sweat (even by burning cars!) Jean Gabin gives an incredible performance as Max le Menteur,whose time in the Film Noir shadows Gabin shows to have given Max a burning confidence in getting the job done in a minimalist,deadly manner. Creeping up on Max, Lino Ventura gives a cool as ice performance as Angelo Fraiser,with Ventura gleefully biting Fraiser's viciousness,whilst the stunning Jeanne Moreau heats up the screen as sharp-witted Femme Fatale Josey.Taken from the pages of Albert Simonin's book,the screenplay by co- writer/(along with Maurice Griffe and Simonin) director Jacques Becker covers every corner of the movie in cracking dialogue,which grinds with near the knuckle gangster one liners with a delicate thoughtfulness expressing the world-weariness Max is carrying.Along with the explosive dialogue,the writers superbly build upon Becker's major themes,where Max is haunted by doubts over loyalty in the Film Noir world, and also well aware of being a lone voice outcast against Fraiser's crowd.Keeping Max's suits pin-sharp,director Becker & cinematographer Pierre Montazel brilliantly keep a close eye for when dialogue is not needed,which allows ultra-stylish, winding staircase shoot-outs and looming shadows over Max's professional daily routine to blossom on screen.Raining down with bullets,Becker strikes a pristine balance in keeping Max's exchanges heating up a tense Film Noir atmosphere which boils over,as Max's hopes and gold melts away.

"Touchez pas au grisbi" begins somewhat in media res, in that the defining moment that leads to the rest of the story--the theft of the grisbi (loot)--happens before the cameras even begin running. This is a film not really about the events that take place within the narrative, but the moments that define the characters between those events: the mobsters brushing their teeth, sitting and eating, discussing their lives.Jean Gabin stars as another aged, ennui-filled mobster, this time a little older and a little more tired than ol' Pepe le Moko. Everything in his role is pure class... a man tired of the fast and frivolous days and just wanting to retire to a quiet life with a woman who's not a showgirl. Unfortunately the blunderous activities of his partner-in-crime keep him trapped in the usual gangster world of deceit, double-crossings, and danger.This movie fits closely to Becker's attempt to create a film "without a beginning or an end, and with little plot in between." Most of the character development in this movie is implied, though very well. A sense of fullness, and history, of experience pervades every character in this movie as if this were the third Godfather movie or some piece of a serial about people the audience knows well, however most of these characters are pretty much introduced at random and leave just as readily. Most of what works within this film is the quieter moments when the characters are left to be themselves, not what others demand in them.This movie has been called very influential, but it's not without its own influences. As stated above, Gabin's performance is somewhat related to the fatigued gangster of such films as "Pepe le Moko", and it's not without its moments of film noir style lighting.Another hugely influential part of this movie is its score, which is actually very minimalistic and reserved. Max's favorite song, the one he plays on the jukebox, is played in pieces throughout most of the movie and most of the time during a moment when Max loses control of the events currently surrounding him. It's a mournful, nostalgic tune... and I also can't help but think that it has to be in some way an inspiration to the Godfather movie score.--PolarisDiB

"Grisbi" is a true classic...... Highly influential French noir/crime thriller/drama....shamefully obscure & undeservedly overlooked until now...Criterion DVD finally released in January....actually kinda ruined my evening..I had planned on watching another movie after this one..but I didn't want to let this one out of my head yet,..it was that good. 1954 Paris sparkles in glorious black & white..Jean Gabin & the whole cast, including a very young & relatively unknown Jeanne Moreau, is wonderful..Jacque Becker's direction is impeccable. The great Jean Gabin stars as Max , an aging gangster, who, along with his longtime friend & partner , Riton , has pulled one last job and intends to retire as soon as it's safe to cash in the millions in gold bullion they have stolen. Max is an anachronism...his style, moral code, honor & ways are caught up in changing times...a theme that fans of some of the best American Westerns will recognize in this film...It'a an absorbing , character-driven story...leading to a lonely highway with guns drawn ..trying to keep from losing everything. Highly recommended.

The title of this French film noir is slang for "loot". Jean Gabin stars as racketeer Max. Seeking out the finer things in life, Max intends to pull one last job and retire. After stealing a fortune in gold, our hero is faced with a crisis of conscience when his best friend (Rene Dary) is kidnapped and held for a huge ransom, the proceeds of this last job. Max manages to turn the tables on the abductors, but his dreams of a life of ease explode in his face. Up-and-coming leading lady Jeanne Moreau plays a pivotal role as the femme fatale who leads Dary into the hands of his kidnappers.An intriguing film that inverts many of the film noir cliches. The heist which drives the film's plot has already occurred when the film starts, which has the effect of shifting the film's focus from the crime itself to the consequences of leading a life of crime. The characters are portrayed less like criminals than businessmen, calmly going about the business of earning a living. As a result, the few scenes of violence that occur are more shocking than they would be in a more routine crime film. An intriguing film that clearly influenced subsequent French crime films, especially Jules Dassin's "Rififi" and Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur".