Rififi (1955)

Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)

aka Rififi

starring Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin

directed by Jules Dassin

118 minutes

in French with English subtitles

Tony "le Stéphanois" (Jean Servais) plans and executes the robbery of a jewelry store in Paris with three other men: Jo "le Suédois" (Carl Möhner), Mario Ferrati (Robert Manuel), and César "le Milanais" (Jules Dassin). They are successful in stealing the jewelry but things come apart soon after that.

Thoughts

I saw this movie as part of the 2024 edition of the Noir City DC film festival. Foster Hirsch introduced it. This movie was the back half of a double feature. The front half of the double feature was High Sierra (1941). Both movies are built around heists but this one to a greater degree than the other one.

This is the second time I have seen Rififi. I first saw it on DVD in Dec 2003. There were a number of things that I had forgotten but some of them came back to me as I watched the movie.

The movie really is as simple as I described it but there are lots of details that I omitted. The first half of the movie deals with the heist itself and the second half with the aftermath. Things go wrong because one of the members of the gang did something he shouldn't have done first during and then after the heist. It tipped off another gang whose leader has his men go after the stolen jewels.

The robbery lasts about 30 minutes and is without dialogue or music. You could have heard a pin drop in the theater where I watched it. Everyone was sucked in to what was transpiring on the screen.

This is an amazing film. I really felt invested in the characters. The tension was palpable as they were robbing the jewelry store and then later as they dealt with the rival gang. This is a nearly flawless movie. It deserves the praise it has received. I really enjoyed watching it on the big screen.