After losing big, an aging gambler decides to assemble a team to rob a casino.After losing big, an aging gambler decides to assemble a team to rob a casino.After losing big, an aging gambler decides to assemble a team to rob a casino.
- Anne
- (as Isabel Corey)
- Un gangster
- (as Henri Allaume)
- Céleste Régnier
- (as Germaine Amiel)
- La deuxième fille du bar
- (as Yannick Arvel)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFilmed over a painstaking period of two years, such was Jean-Pierre Melville's attention to detail. Daniel Cauchy, who plays Paolo, found time to make four other films in that period.
- GoofsMcKimmie demonstrates the four-dial combination-lock for the gang by turning all four dials before opening and closing it. But when Roger practices his safe-cracking technique on it, he misses the upper-right dial and instead works the lower-right dial a second time (after sandpapering his fingertips).
- Quotes
[subtitled version]
Bob Montagné: I was born here. It was not so dirty then. And I left to conquer the world. I was fourteen when I left my mother.
Anne: Did you go far?
Bob Montagné: Yes... a mile away.
Anne: And your father?
Bob Montagné: I use my mother's name.
Anne: She was unlucky with you both.
Bob Montagné: I returned ten years later, early one morning. I saw an old woman on her knees, scrubbing away, as she always had. That's how I recognized her. I left without a word. Then I sent her a postal order each month. One month it was sent back. She had stopped scrubbing.
- ConnectionsEdited into Journal D'un Malfrat (2017)
Certainly there is sufficient build up to the heist. We see every step of the planning, with plenty of twists and turns leading up to it, and once things get started, the suspense is certainly there, though without giving anything away, the suspense doesn't come the way one would expect it to, but the tension is definitely there. There is violence, though not a whole lot, and it's obscured, so don't expect much in the way of high octane gun action.
While the sections of the film dealing with the heist itself, the planning, build up and execution would all be enough to make this a fine film, what elevates it even more is the characterization. Bob is a a retired criminal, who all ready served twenty years in prison. Now friends with a cop and living seemingly straight, he's none the less prone to gambling and losing. He takes a father like role to Paulo, who aspires to be like him, and takes a liking to a young woman, Anne. He's seemingly a good person, willing to help others whenever he can. However, when he loses most of his fortune on a foolish bet, he gets a team together for a grand scale heist. This film is about more than a heist, it's about a flawed man whose vices will ensure he is never completely on the straight and narrow. Paulo also falls prey to his desire to win over and impress Anne, at any cost. The highlight of the film for me is the characters, fully realized and done justice by fantastic performances from everyone involved. I won't spoil the ending, but it's one of those endings that makes you completely rethink your earlier perceptions.
Cinematography, while not as amazing as "Le Samurai", is still something to appreciate, with clear influences from American crime and noir films.
SHould be approached as more of a crime drama than a full out, action packed heist film. Definitely recommended.
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Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- Bob the Gambler
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- FRF 17,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $15,586
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,623
- Jan 7, 2018
- Gross worldwide
- $16,152
- Runtime1 hour 42 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1