French crime films of the 1950s and ’60s often centered on professional criminals who followed codes of honor that put them on a more-or-less level moral playing field with the detectives tracking them down. Whether it was Jean Gabin’s aging gangster Max in Jacques Becker’s Touchez Pas au Grisbi or Alain Delon’s steely eyed assassin Jef in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samouraï, these men had a sophistication and moral grounding that minimized the violence and chaos they caused. They were dangerous, even deadly, but only when they needed to be and in a way the cops could wrap their heads’ around.
Fun City Editions’s new Blu-ray set, Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers, consists of a trio of films that play like French twists on the hyper-violent Italian poliziotteschi crime films that reached the height of their popularity in the ’70s. In Jean-Claude Missiaen’s Shot Pattern,...
Fun City Editions’s new Blu-ray set, Seeing Red: 3 French Vigilante Thrillers, consists of a trio of films that play like French twists on the hyper-violent Italian poliziotteschi crime films that reached the height of their popularity in the ’70s. In Jean-Claude Missiaen’s Shot Pattern,...
- 5/14/2024
- by Derek Smith
- Slant Magazine
The tough guys in Yves Boisset’s crime drama answer revenge with revenge, and Michel Bouquet’s rogue cop commits outrageous acts of lawlessness to nail his partner’s killer. The French censors were up at arms over Boisset’s slight to police honor, yet the subject isn’t corruption — everything is ‘honor and decency.’ A fine gallery of Gallic thugs fills out the cast; both they and the attitude toward law and order are a step beyond Jean-Pierre Melville, but not an improvement. With standout work from Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin and Bernard Fresson.
The Cop aka Un condé
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 6, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Michel Bouquet, Françoise Fabian, Gianni Garko, Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin, Anne Carrère, Bernard Fresson, Pierre Massimi, Roger Lumont.
Cinematography: Jean-Marc Ripert
Film Editor: Albert Jurgenson, Vincenzo Tomassi
Original Music:...
The Cop aka Un condé
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 6, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 24.95
Starring: Michel Bouquet, Françoise Fabian, Gianni Garko, Michel Constantin, Théo Sarapo, Henri Garcin, Anne Carrère, Bernard Fresson, Pierre Massimi, Roger Lumont.
Cinematography: Jean-Marc Ripert
Film Editor: Albert Jurgenson, Vincenzo Tomassi
Original Music:...
- 9/13/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Director Sergio Sollima sets the template for twenty years of violent action cinema for Rough Tough Charles Bronson. Precise stunt scenes and clever direction are at the service of a script that can’t produce a convincing line of dialogue. It’s a mishmosh of sex, bullets and car chases. Bronson is betrayed by his love for Jill Ireland, and Telly Savalas is shoehorned in as a (surprise!) nasty gangster. Much of it does play like gangbusters — the opening and closing especially — and the dynamic title instrumental is one of maestro Ennio Morricone’s best.
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
Violent City
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1970 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 109 + 96 min. / Città violenta, The Family, Final Shot / Street Date May 17, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Charles Bronson, Jill Ireland, Michel Constantin, Telly Savalas, Umberto Orsini.
Cinematography: Aldo Tonti
Production Design: Francesco Bronzi
Art Director: Franco Fumigalli
Film Editor: Nino Baragli
Stunts: Rémy Julienne, Goffredo Unger
Original...
- 7/5/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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