Tony le Stephanois (Jean Servais), a master thief fresh out of jail, wearing a harried look and suffering ill health he refuses to be involved with crime, until he finds his girlfriend shacked up with a rival gangster. With little reason to keep living he plans a final job. Tony sets about finding his crew and meticulously planning the job; a robbery of the jewellery store Mappin & Webb. Rififi revolves around the central heist, famed for its finite detail and incredible tension, but the drama does not end at the heist like so many other crime films. Dassin's film is a humanist tale that hinges on the loyalty among thieves and draws on the fatalistic, doom laden lives common to crooks and thieves in pulp literature.I love Jules Dassin. His American Noir films are among my favorites. Thieves' Highway, Brute Force, and his British production, Night and the City are in high rotation at my house. While I had owned the Criterion DVD of Rififi for years, I'd never gotten around to watching it, just because I had so much stuff to sift through. When I was given the chance to take a look at Arrow Academy's Blu-ray disc, I jumped at it, what better way to experience this film for the first time?
What a masterpiece!
Everything about Rififi is carefully controlled and every action performed and the way in which is it performed is design to evoke a reaction from the viewer. Dassin is so successful with this that we are pushed and pulled along throughout the running time without ever being the wiser about his machinations. He uses previously unheard of techniques in Rififi, such as the stunning heist sequence in Mappin & Webb, which is performed in its twenty five minute entirety without a single word spoken. That took balls. To film a twenty five minute sequence in total silence would, even today, make producers cringe, but it is absolutely essential to the way the film works. The thieves are all specialists and artisans, and to ply their trade, they have needs, silence is one of them.
I won't go much further into a review of the film, but that sequence is absolutely stunning, and brave as hell. Everything about Rififi works. The characters are well-rounded and feel real, the situations are not terribly far-fetched, and the pacing is excellent. The film moves exactly as it should, and ends exactly when it should, with no fluff. We have sympathy for these characters, even though we probably shouldn't, they are all criminals. When they suffer a setback, we root for them, and when they succeed, we let out a sigh of relief. Overall, Rififi is an absolute must-see, and if you haven't taken it in yet, do it now!
The Disc:
Of the three Arrow Academy discs I've gotten the chance to look at, Rififi is clearly the best. The video is absolutely stunning. Dassin's crisp black and white photography looks amazing. There is an astounding amount of detail to be found, and a very natural layer of grain across the image. We can see texture in clothes, and pinstriping on suits that was never before apparent on DVD. The picture simply must be seen to be believed. The LPCM Mono audio, is accurate, clear, distinct, and sharp. Dialogue is easily understandable, and the track is free of any distracting hisses or pops. A/V shines on this disc, and I can't imagine it looking or sounding any better.
For a Dassin fan like me, the extras on this disc are a treat! First, there is a thirty minute interview that ranges from his work on Rififi, to his career in Hollywood, to is experience on the blacklist of the 50's. Very interesting stuff, with lots of great anecdotes from the film. Next, we have a 30 minute Q & A with Dassin after a screening of Rififi. This is also great to see, although a lot of the stories are the same as those he told in the interview section. Still worth watching. Last among the video extras is a contextual discussion of Rififi with author, Ginette Vincendeau. She does a great job of looking back at the film objectively and putting it in its proper context as a film noir, as a crime film, as a product of an American director working in Europe, and as an adaptation of a pulp novel. I really enjoyed her thirty minute discussion as well, top stuff! That is an hour and a half of quality bonus material with no fluff. In addition to that, there is the trailer, and the usual Arrow Academy printed essays, slipcover, and multiple artwork. None of the printed material was available for review
If you're a fan of film noir, classic crime film, Jules Dassin, or film in general, this is an outstanding package, and one that will be hard to beat. Eventually, I would bet that Criterion will present this film in Blu-ray, but for those of you in Europe, or able to play Region B discs, I would jump on this.
Arrow Academy's Rififi on Blu-ray is hard coded for Region B.