Rififi (1955)

 Rififi (1955) Rififi (Du rififi chez les hommes)

I suppose the obscure term is defined in the lyrics of a song performed in the feature, (’Rififi means Trouble.’’) but I remain skeptical about its vagueness. The best I can do is note that there’s probably some relationship with the English term ‘riffraff.’

A man, just out of prison finds out his girlfriend has left him, and while he outright rejects a smash-and-grab job ("I'm too old.") he immediately proposes a counteroffer, why not just steal the whole contents of the jeweler’s safe?

A small amount of time is spent of planning the half-hour long centerpiece heist leaving some nifty surprises (which I will not spoil) for what will become the film’s highlight, a break-in that not only amps up the suspense by being executed in near silence but pulls in the audience into full complicity.

We become so invested in the heist that despite these folks being a mixture of the unsavory and the charming we begin to pull for them to succeed.

The details of the heist are so clever we never doubt their authenticity, (could someone actually have pulled this off at the time? Don't try this at home, kids!)

Oddly enough, it's not the cops who bust the criminals. In true Noir fashion the characters’ weaknesses are revealed from the start, and we know exactly how it is they’ll be undone.

Our main character is a sadistic thug, make no mistake. He has no problem humiliating and beating his faithless ex-girlfriend or cold-bloodedly dealing with a stoolie, but he does have a certain strict code he adheres to.

With Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Marie Sabouret, Robert Manuel, and "Perlo Vita" (Jules Dassin).

An indispensable classic