Search - Rififi [Criterion Collection] on DVD

MPAA Rating: NR Content Advisory: Violence, Adult Situations, Not For Children, Adult Language Movie Release: 1955 DVD Release: 04/24/2001 Format: DVD - Black and White Edition: Dual Layered,Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 58 mins Studio: Criterion Members Wishing: 28 Genres: Crime, Crime Thriller, Gangster Film, Caper

Jules Dassin -- in his second European film after being driven out of the United States during the years of the house Un-American Activities Committee hearings -- directed this landmark caper film about the planning and execution of a nighttime robbery at a swanky English jewelry shop in the Rue de Rivoli. The story concerns a collection of thieves who band together to commit a seemingly impossible robbery. The gang consists of a tough, straight-talker named Tony Stephanois (Jean Servais); a young man under Tony's tutelage named Jo (Carl Mohner; a happy-go-lucky Italian by the name of Mario Farrati (Robert Manuel); and a safecracker named Cesar (the director Jules Dassin under the pseudonym of Perlo Vita) who likes to jiggle the combinations of women in his off hours. The set piece of the film is an intricate 28-minute sequence that depicts the robbery in detail -- all filmed silently without dialogue or music. After the success of the robbery, the gang barely has time to celebrate when a rival gangster, Pierre Gruuter (Marcel Lupovici), decides that he wants a cut of the take. When Tony's gang refuses to cooperate, Pierre kidnaps Jo's son, and the gang has to get tough with their nemesis. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Jean Servais - Tony le Stephanois
Carl Möhner - Jo Le Suedois
Robert Manuel - Mario
Magali Noël - Viviane
Perlo Vita - Cesar

Long considered one of the greatest crime films of all time (due to a riveting 33-minute safe-cracking scene) and the first film to explore the almost fetishistic detail and labor involved in pulling off a heist, Jules Dassin's remarkable Rififi is given the grand DVD treatment by The Criterion Collection. The film's picture (presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.33:1), which was digitally transferred from a 35 mm composite fine-grain master, is virtually free of all scratches and general wear and tear. Philippe Agostini's magnificent black-and-white cinematography really shines on this disc -- blacks are truly black and the images are always clearly defined and sharp-looking. The high contrast of the transfer is perfectly balanced and stable. The disc also has a "new and improved" English subtitle translation, as well as an optional English-dubbed soundtrack. Included on the disc is a 28-minute video interview with Dassin, where the director talks frankly about his years spent on the Hollywood blacklist after making such classic film noirs as Brute Force (1947) and The Naked City (1948), his initial reluctance to direct Rififi, and his memories (albeit fuzzy) of attending the film's premiere at the Cannes Film Festival and being confronted by Gene Kelly. The disc also offers up a selection of production stills, set designs, production notes, and the original theatrical trailer. This is a four-star disc for a four-star film. ~ Derek Hill, All Movie Guide