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19 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Wonderful gangster-story by Jacques Becker, 22 November 2002 Author: pzanardo (pzanardo@math.unipd.it) from Padova, Italy
It would be nonsense to give an order of merit to the three cinematic masterpieces by director Jacques Becker. However, personally I love "Touchez pas au grisbi" even more than "Casque d'or" or "Le Trou". In "Touchez pas au grisbi" we find all we can ask from a Becker's film: splendid black-and-white cinematography, evocative, romantic atmosphere, brilliant script, stunning excellence of the actors' job. But here we get more: a tough, perfectly written gangster-story, swift pace and action blended with an outstanding psychological design. The movie is mainly a story of friendship and honor. We have two old pals, two aged gangsters close to retire: Max (Jean Gabin), smart and clever, well aware that their best years are over, and Riton (Rene Dary), naive and rash, unable to accept the end of their youth, even dumb if you want, but extremely brave and devoted to his friend. Max is constantly grumbling against Riton and the troubles he causes. He scorns Riton's courage... brains and good sense, that's the important thing... But when it's the time for action, we see how deep and touching their friendship is, how ready they are to sacrifice themselves for each other. In other words, there are circumstances when only courage and honor count...According to his usual style, Becker describes the world of criminals as a weird parallel of the world of "decent people". To be a gangster appears a job like another: a day at the office. See Max's poise and professional way, when he negotiates the value of the "grisbi" (the swag) with the receiver. And when Max is going to face a last-blood gang-war, he quietly leaves a large sum of money to a trusted bar-maid, in case of need "... to tip somebody (i.e. police or judges)... to fix possible problems... you know better..."Inside a story narrated in the most understated way, Becker inserts unexpected explosions of violence. Take the owner of the Night Club, another old pal of Max's and Riton's. Poised, always silent, short, fat, with thick glasses, he seems the less harmful person. Yet, suddenly, and without a single word of comment, he starts to brutally beat a thug from a rival gang. And, with the machine-gun, he shows himself even tougher than Max and Riton.Of course, the movie also offers a Gabin's trade-mark scene, when he slaps everybody, men and women as well. Great stuff: toughness mixed with sense of humour. Gabin's performance is at the highest level reached in a glorious career.What else to add? "Touchez pas au grisbi" is a fantastic masterpiece. Moreover, I guess that this film is good for all tastes , which probably can't be said for other Becker's cinematic gems.
18 out of 23 people found the following review useful: Paris by night, 12 December 2005 Author: jotix100 from New York
Jacques Becker 1954 "Touchez pas au grisbi" is a delight to watch. M. Becker was an artist that knew what to give his fans, as he clearly shows in this masterful account about the gangsters operating in Paris during the fifties. Becker and his cinematographer, Pierre Montazel, brought the cameras to the streets as we are taken to savor that underworld they operated from. The jazzy score by Jean Wiener works well in the film. The film shows us the bygone Paris of that period, beautifully photographed by M. Montazel in all its splendor.At the center of it all is Max, the older gangster who suddenly begins feeling the toll of his years living dangerously and is contemplating retirement after he, and his partner, Riton, get rid of the gold bars they have stolen from a shipment at Orly airport. Max and Riton are seen at the beginning of the film dining at Chez Bouche with two younger women, Josy and Lola, who are chorus girls in the night club that seems to be the venue where these characters like to frequent.Things get complicated when Josie tells the newly arrived Angelo about what Max and Riton have and the trouble starts as he wants to get to the stolen goods for his own benefit. Thus begins a conflict between two different factions of the underground that will end badly. Max's plans for retirement with the proceeds of the sale of the stolen gold will have to wait.The best thing about the film is the uncanny way M. Becker and his collaborators reproduce that era for us. The world of the night clubs, restaurants, watering places, apartments, and other places where these characters move, are faithfully recreated for our pleasure in the movie. This film noir influenced a lot of other movies that came after, as Becker's influence inspired future movie makers.Jean Gabin, probably the best French actor of all times makes us like his Max, even though we realize he is a criminal. M. Gabin is the whole reason for taking a look at this film that he dominates at all times. Rene Dary, is seen as Max's partner in crime, Riton. Jeanne Moreau in one of her earlier films shows why she went to be one of the stars of the French cinema. Her Josie is excellent. Also in the cast, the fabulous Lino Ventura who plays Angelo. Denise Clair plays Mme. Bouche and Dora Doll is Lola."Touchez pas au grisbi" will not disappoint Becker's fans.
14 out of 17 people found the following review useful: A true classic, 23 May 2005 Author: boardwalk_angel from United States
"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.
11 out of 13 people found the following review useful: Touchez-pas AA Grisbi, 1 April 2006 Author: markku-oksanen-2 from Finland
This movie is undoubtedly the best movie in the world ever. I've seen it about 10 times over the years, and every time it is fresh and fascinating. It's so beautiful but bad story about friendship and betrayal between two elderly gangsters, but it is also a story about aging and disappointment.Jean Gabin's performance is the crowning jewel of this gem of a film. An extra bonus is a young Jeanne Moreau as a cabaret dancer. The final gunfight still stands strong among today's cg-filled action scenes. Definitely the pinnacle of Jacques Becker's work, but don't forget the marvelous Golden Helmet (Casque d'or) and The Night Watch (Le Trou).
12 out of 15 people found the following review useful: influential French film noir, 19 September 2003 Author: rdoyle29 from Winnipeg, Canada
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".
12 out of 16 people found the following review useful: Becker's World View, 15 February 2004 Author: palmiro from United States
Like his masterpiece, `Le trou', this film embodies Becker's distinctive vision of the world. We are given a portrait of a bond of love between two men--a kind of love which is beyond anything a man and a woman can know. But this is not Oscar Wilde's `love which dare not speak its name': there is no hint of homoerotic sexuality. Rather, this is the bond of the trenches and the workplace (presumably class and underworld trenches in the case of the protagonists), a theme which has a tremendous atavistic resonance in French culture and history insofar as it reflects a collective male experience extending from the Napoleonic Wars through the Paris Commune down through WWI--the kind of camaraderie for life which predisposed a man to sacrifice all that he holds dear for another man (another instance of this is in Jean Vermillon's `Gueule d'amour'), and hinted at in a sentimental, nuanced way when Max breaks out the foie gras and a bottle of blanc after his buddy has made a costly bonehead move. Note also that incredible sigh of utter lassitude that `Max' (Jean Gabin) heaves as he sits through yet another girly show--or that look on his face as `Betty' asks him if he loves her (after he's slept with her)--a look which tells us his every thought is on his pal, `Riton'. This is not to say that women are portrayed throughout in a disparaging light: "Mme. Bouche", the owner of the restaurant and `Marinette', the nightclub owner's wife (a wonderfully subtle portrait of uxorial solicitude and anxiety) are both characters who reinforce and serve male solidarity. But there's the suggestion that when the male/female bond involves sexuality, a guy can lose his head and forget about his mates.This male/female divide appears to overshadow class divisions, which were to be at the heart of Becker's `Le trou.' Still we can see Becker's communist sympathies coming through in oblique ways. Max is the engaging, attractive character that he is because of his fierce devotion to others, his liberality of spirit (after he leaves a huge tip to the petit-bourgeois owner of the cafe` in the process of recycling leftover wine, the latter remarks, `We could use more customers like him'), the value he places on his pal's life over the lout, the easy way he has with trusting and receiving the trust of others--all these things are non-commercial values and they suggest a world and way of life alternative to what AMERICA has in store for France. Note, for example, how the camera lingers on the road sign at the scene of the first shootout: `Autoroute a` l'ouest', `Expressway to the west'. It's the same road Max and his pals rush down and that takes them straight to the disaster with the loot. The promise of riches that America (`the West') tantalizingly dangled before the French in the form of the Marshall Plan was not to be taken up without heavy costs. Pauvre Max: in the end he cannot cry at the loss of his buddy (though I cried for him): he cannot express his grief because he is now in the company of "Betty", his American doll and source of support (fittingly played by a real-life Miss America of 1946).Sure made me feel as though I should have spent more of my life in France.
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Superb French Noir, 9 December 2006 Author: Prof-Hieronymos-Grost from Ireland
Max(Jean Gabin) is a gentleman gangster with a penchant for nice suits and champagne and the brains of the criminal partnership, the other being his long time friend and partner in crime, Riton (René Dary),"the muscle" so to speak of their partnership, together they have just pulled off a substantial heist and are now 50 million francs better off in gold bars. Max likes the easy life of night clubs and restaurants, he isn't greedy and now intends to retire with his fortune, Riton agrees, but he inadvertently tells his young night club dancer girlfriend Josy (Jeanne Moreau)of his large stash of Grisbi(Loot/Swag), she has been two timing him with the much younger and very ambitious crook Angelo, Josy of course informs him and using this knowledge Angelo sets out to take it from Max. Max suspicious that he is being followed confides in Riton that something is about to happen,he also tells his old friend how he discovered Josy's infidelity, Riton is furious and leaves Max's safe haven to take revenge on his younger adversary.Riton ends up in a trap and is kidnapped by Angelo, demanding Max release the gold as ransom. Touchez pas au grisbi isn't so much an action crime flic as it is a no action one, we never get to see the heist or the every day violence of the criminal fraternity, Becker's film is much more about the silences between the crimes and the everyday mundaneness of the criminals life, their conversations, their dining habits etc… this ploy is all the more effective when the film explodes at its climax with the type of violence you would expect of a typical Crime film. A forerunner of Dassin's Rififi or more obviously Melville's Bob Le Flambeur, Touchez pas au Grisbi is a fine film that some might find a little dull, but its romantic vision of Parisien criminal lives is still very intriguing and a welcome alternative to the stereotypical hoods of the genre. Gabin is nothing short of superb as the aging gangster, willing to give up his position and power for the easy life, his relationship with his loyal friend Riton is more like that of a married couple who are still friends after many years together but ultimately wonder why they ever got together, we are only given one glimpse of Max's rage towards his friend in a brief voice over, where Max lets fly at his companions stupidity, that might cost them both their lives and their Grisbi, other than that Max is a cool operator, nothing fazes him, even as the plot thickens and a quick response is required to save Riton's life, Max is just as easy going as he always is, he might just as easily be at home brushing his teeth or folding his pyjamas again, we never quite know what Max is thinking. The understated pate eating scene is superbly orchestrated by Becker ,there is hardly any dialogue but through gestures and eye movements, we learn an awful lot about their relationship…..Touchez pas au Grisbi in the hands of Becker is both elegant and evocative and a pleasure to behold and as French Noir goes its right up there with the best.
7 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Gangsters In Their Pajamas, 12 March 2006 Author: Steve (Xploitedyouth) from USA
For fans of American gangster films, Jacque Becker's TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI may seem like a radical departure from the violence and excess of films like THE GODFATHER and GOODFELLAS. It's a quiet film about quiet men, living out their golden years in a dignified manner. Much of the film is spent watching Max (Jean Gabin) as he dines with friends, cavorts with his mistresses and listens to his favorite tune on his old record player. The amazing thing about the film is that there's never any question that Max can be a dangerous man. There's a famous scene where Max and his long-time partner Riton (Rene Dary) eat pate, set up their sleeping quarters, dress in their pajamas and go to sleep without exchanging a word. There's an amazing, soft tension playing through this entire scene. Riton has screwed up a business deal, as he has done many times in the past, and Max is getting fed up. I was reminded throughout this scene of the famous line from GOODFELLAS about assassins coming as friends. This certainly would have been the right time for Max to whack Riton, if that were what he wanted. But he doesn't, because honor and loyalty are important aspects of Max's life, and he will protect his friend even though their big retirement job may be jeopardized. Max is, quite simply, the least Americanized gangster in film history, and he's a remarkable character. Jean Gabin solidifies his reputation as the greatest French film actor of all time through subtlety, nuance, and natural charisma. The film itself is painted with the rich black-and-white brush strokes of the best film noir, and truly succeeds in transporting the viewer to another place and time. A genuine, under-appreciated masterpiece.
6 out of 9 people found the following review useful: Nostalgia of old times, 8 July 2001 Author: François Gehl (franzgehl@hotmail.com) from Soucht, France
Old gangsters want to hide their "grisbi" (the booty in french slang language) from another gang. They have to face the competition from a younger local caïd (Lino Ventura). More than a gangster, it tells the friendship between men and the vanishing of the old world and its honorous gangsters. A special attention to the harmonica music which suits here very well.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful: Friendship is the uncut gem, 6 November 2005 Author: animala from USA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The movie is a story of friendship that lasts.Max (Jean Gabin)is an ageing gangster, and indeed from early on the weighty and slowing down feeling of age is a daily preoccupation for Max. The opening scene is a view of the day's newspaper announcing that 50 million in gold bullion is still missing. Clearly Max has something to do with it.Max and his best pal, the similarly ageing Riton have young girlfriends who evidently engage in prostitution and drugs. In the opening scene Max is holding court at a local restaurant which is apparently closed to outsiders. max is clearly the man of influence, the man with the money. the "godfather" in his small fiefdom. Much of the set up of the entire story is allowing the viewer to see the day to day world of gangster middle management. The ordinary things that Max and co. do is really unique including discussing food, body functions and relationships personal and professional.Something is not all well at the "office". WHile Max and Riton are clearly honorable amongst their own, this is not practiced by all in their sphere as it is clear for some reason armed men associated with the club they frequent are trying to trap them. And as we find out, all know the "loot" is missing and Max is likely to have it, and many will do questionable and murderous things to try to get the info on its whereabouts.Look for Jeanne Moreau as the heartless and duplicitous Josy--she's fantastic.A non-pretentious look at the gangster world with some unexpected and somewhat shocking scenes of violence.Some hilarious translation in the Criterion subtitles like "Those babes are a real health hazard" and "you expect thanks for causing a flap in my hen house".Becker outdid himself in this film--every person in the movie was significant, all direction perfect.
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