Rififi = Du Rififi chez les hommes

Rififi is a classic French noir film, an unforgettable crime movie, based on the novel `Du Rififi chez les hommes’, by Auguste Le Breton. American Jules Dassin directed “Rififi” in France, where he was working in exile after being blacklisted in Hollywood. “Rififi” is the tale of Tony, fresh out of prison and looking for his wife (who’s taken up with another man), seeking retribution. Tony is a man of few words but decisive action. He is seduced into joining his old gang for a risky job - a precious jewel robbery to take place in the dead of the night whilst all of Paris sleeps. Tony’s crew consist of old buddies, Jo (Carl Mohner) and Mario (Robert Manual) and an ace safecracker Cesar Le Millanais (played by Dassin himself under the pseudonym Perlo Vita). Characters are well written and are depicted three dimensionally. The band of thieves is shown to have meaningful relationships with the women in their life, and with each other. Thirty -three minutes of the film are devoted to the crime itself - a wordless, almost soundless scene that is the epitome of heist cinema. Dassin won Best Director at Cannes for “Rififi” in 1955. In French with English subtitles.