Thursday, April 21, 2011
OLD PALS
Today's film is an old favorite, Jaques Becker's
Don't touch the loot.
This was also a NYTimes Best 1176 Films.
Jean Gabin plays an aging gangster or, really, a crook, who has pulled a job with his best friend and now finds their success in pulling it off ruined when the friend tells the wrong girlfriend about it.
He forgives his friend and sets about to repair the damage. Faithful to the end, we see Gabin cooly move through the situation and, at the same time, remain faithful to his friend.
The film is about aging. Gabin was 50 himself. An aging actor, one of the most popular in French film, humbly playing an aging hero. And, of course, it is about friendship. There are a few other friends in this as well. We have the feeling that all of Gabin's "gang" are really friends who would do anything for him and each other.
I have seen this before. And will see it again. It is a beautifully realized film. Very simple. Spare. No shenanigans. There is suspense without high drama. They play it cool. And when all hell breaks out at the end, an ironic twist, tempers the excitement.
The Criterion restoration has some parts that are breathtakingly clear and tell us more about the power of black and white film than any lecture could convey.
The young Jeanne Moreau plays a hooker/dancer in this and not even the main one. Interesting to see. The villain actor was doing his first film at middle age and went on to do fifty more. He was a professional wrestler at the time.
This is a great movie. A 5 out of Netflix5. I have seen it at least three times and it still holds me.
Labels: films
