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Rififi

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Rififi (1954)

92%
88%
91%
N/A
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N/A
92 %
Reviews Counted: 39 Fresh: 36  Rotten:3 Average Rating: 7.9/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins

Synopsis: A banner film that broke through standards of accepted language, dialogue, gun violence, and crime on screen and stylized the film noir genre, Jules Dassin's 1954 film RIFIFI was an instant success. Based on the novel of the same title, DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES by Auguste le Breton, the film's... A banner film that broke through standards of accepted language, dialogue, gun violence, and crime on screen and stylized the film noir genre, Jules Dassin's 1954 film RIFIFI was an instant success. Based on the novel of the same title, DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES by Auguste le Breton, the film's use of hard-boiled slang and the gangster garb of trench coats, top hats, and a cigarette dangling from one corner of the mouth went on to become the emblems of Humphrey Bogart-style noir classics. In RIFIFI, a hardened man, Tony le Stephanois (Jean Servais) is released from prison after five years to find that his woman has shacked up with another gangster, and the life he had planned to return to no longer exists. Down on his luck and without a dime in his pocket, he rounds up his old crime buddies--who drink and smoke all night assembled around the poker table--and agrees to commit one last crime: a jewel heist. For weeks the men plan, studying the alarm system and working out each detail of the break-in. When it actually comes time to perform the robbery, their actions are perfectly choreographed, their methods precise and successful, and they walk away untouched with millions of dollars of jewels. However, there's a hitch, and what was meant to be the perfect crime turns into a nasty gang war resulting in a blood bath on the glorious streets of 1950s Paris. [More]

Genre: Foreign Films

Starring: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Marie Sabouret, Perlo Vita, Magali Noel

Director: Jules Dassin
Screenwriter: Jules Dassin
Producer: Rene Gaston Vuattoux
Composer: Georges Auric

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 4, 2002

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Full Frame - 1.33
  • Single Side - Dual Layer
  • RSDL

Audio:

  • Mono - French
  • Mono - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Production Interview - 1. Jules Dassin - Director
  • Trailers - 1. Original Theatrical

Text/Photo Galleries:

  • Production Art
  • Producion Stills

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
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Ratings Image
N/A

Jules Dassin's classic jewel-thief caper of 1955 looks as smart as paint, with its unendurably tense, entirely wordless robbery section.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/30/07
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

Actually rather overrated, lacking the tension, profundity, and vivid characterisation of similar films.

Full Review | comment Comment
01/26/06
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

One of the greatest crime movies ever made.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/20/02
Philip French
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

The heist in Rififi is a dazzling and suspenseful set-piece.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/12/02
Tom Dawson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

It took an experienced US director, Jules Dassin, who has lived in France some years, to give the French gangster pic the proper tension, mounting and treatment. This pic has something intrinsically Gallic without sacrificing the rugged storytelling.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/30/07
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
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N/A

The film turns moralistic and sour in the last half, when the thieves fall out.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/30/07
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
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N/A

A familiar but effective parable of honor among thieves.

Full Review | comment Comment
10/30/07
Jonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago Reader
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4/5

The grandfather of all heists movies. Essential.

comment Comment
03/29/07
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com
Ratings Image
4/4

Although 007 has been through his share of danger over the years, he doesn't know rififi like Dassin's film noir.

Full Review | comment Comment
11/19/06
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star
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4/5

A fine example of American film noir via Paris, France.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Christopher Varney
Film Threat
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4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
10/21/05
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
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2/5

No review available.

comment Comment
10/10/05
Chuck O'Leary
Fantastica Daily
Ratings Image
5/5

No review available.

comment Comment
07/06/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image
5/5

It’s one of the most important movies of the 20th century, and one of the very best.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/04/05
David Cornelius
eFilmCritic.com
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
03/05/05
Daniel M. Kimmel
Worcester Telegram & Gazette
Ratings Image
5/5

No review available.

comment Comment
12/05/03
Carol Cling
Las Vegas Review-Journal
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5/5

This is perhaps the keenest crime film that ever came from France, including Pepe le Moko and some of the best of Louis Jouvet and Jean Gabin.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/20/03
Bosley Crowther
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
05/08/03
Brandon Judell
PopcornQ
Ratings Image
4/5

No review available.

comment Comment
04/03/03
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies
Ratings Image
4/5

Deserves to rank alongside other seminal entries (The Maltese Falcon, The Big Sleep) of classic film noir.

Full Review | comment Comment
12/08/02
Christopher Varney
Film Threat
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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• Rififi at IGN
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