Borsalino and Co.

BORSALINO & CO. (1974) starred Alain Delon and Ricardo Cucciolla.

This is a sequel to the highly acclaimed BORSALINO which apparently is unavailable. Well, if there is one thing I hate it's dubbing. This was dubbed. Delon's voice was too low. The voices always sound disembodied to me.

The story takes place in the mid-1930s France, and it concerns a gangland war between the Volpone (Cucciolla) gang and the Roch Siffredi (Delon) gang. Initially, Volpone wins and plans to saturate the country with heroin, but Siffredi carefully works out his revenge.

It's a typical Godfather-type film without being the Godfather. Lots of cars crashing, violence, shooting, and a particularly unpleasant final scene. All very macho.

On IMDb one of the posters said, "Alain Delon, already past his prime..." Yeah, what a dog. He was a GOD, and with his hair slicked back, evening clothes, and beautifully tailored suits, he looked as if he walked off the pages of Italian Vogue. If your idea of "prime" is 25, that's sad. To each age its own beauty.

I have been a fan of Alain Delon for many years, since first seeing his stunning performance as Tom Ripley in Rene Clement's superb Plein Soleil. He's one of the great icons of French cinema.

Borsalino was a film that I remembered very fondly; although I hadn't seen it since its first release it has always remained vividly in my memory, and when I saw that Kino had released it on disc I ordered it on line. What I received was this sequel, which I wasn't even aware had been made, however I watched it and was hugely disappointed. If like me you remember the original fondly, then avoid the sequel.

According to the distributors the original Borsalino is not available. Ever the optimist, I'll continue to try to track down a copy.

Alain Delon, already past his prime, returns to the tried-and-trusted formula of BORSALINO (1970), a fondly-remembered gangster pastiche (which I had watched some time ago, albeit dubbed, and been somewhat underwhelmed by) with a surprisingly mean-spirited but ultimately indifferent follow-up. The film is one of a staggering 9 Delon made with director Deray (the only other one I've seen is LA PISCINE [1969], which I remember liking). However, since I had purchased LE SAMOURAI (1967) while in Hollywood and recently ordered LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970), I thought I might as well give this one a try...

Though Delon served also as producer, he delivers a typically blank-faced performance and the film, with no new ideas in either script or direction, is tolerable mainly for its bouts of excessive, almost cartoonish violence. The international cast is reliable but their contribution is pretty ordinary on this occasion: Riccardo Cucciolla in a dual role (!) as Delon's gangleader rival and his twin; Rene' Koldehoff as Cucciolla's heavy-set chief thug; Catherine Rouvel (still looking gorgeous 15 years after swimming in the nude for Jean Renoir in LUNCH ON THE GRASS [1959]) also reprising her role from the original as a high-class prostitute and Delon's old flame, Daniel Ivernel (from Bunuel's DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID [1964]) as the level-headed Police Commissioner, Alfredo Lastretti (from Jess Franco's VENUS IN FURS [1968]) as one of Delon's lieutenants...plus a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from Anton Diffring (perhaps imposed on the film by its backers, BORSALINO AND CO. being a French/Italian/West German co-production).

For those who enjoy 'the Godfather' and the Sicilian landscapes, Borsalino & Co. is a different view of French gangsterism in the South of France around the 1930's. Alain Delon plays the lead character of Roch Siffredi, a gangster who must fend his empire against the Italian mob who tries to muscle its way through Roch Siffredi's territory and enterprises. How Roch is able to fight back and make an unprecedented comeback while exacting his vengeance on the Italian mob is most original and Machiavellian.

Bottom line, revenge is sweet, and the movie makes great effort in recreating a 1930's decor. The background music and the theme song are particularly enjoying.

An old recipe of crime-thriller-revenge, good for fans of Alain Delon but easy to see it with large indulgence today. All is more than familiar, correct and predictable against the effort to surprise. So, murders and America. And, sure, Alain Delon as the blank-faced hero.