Rififi (re-release)

Name: Rififi (re-release)
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime, Film-Noir
Released: July 21, 2000
Duration: 122 min
Rating: 97
Cast: Carl Möhner, Jean Servais, Robert Manuel

2000

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 13 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Universal acclaim based on 45 Ratings

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8.4

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8.4	User Score Universal acclaim based on 45 Ratings

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Rififi (US)

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Movie Details & Credits

Rialto Pictures | Release Date: July 21, 2000

Starring: Carl Möhner, Jean Servais, Robert Manuel

Summary: A reissue of a classic French caper thriller in which Tony, fresh out of prison, teams with three cohorts to pull off a major jewel heist which goes awry. The film's title is slang for "rough stuff," and it's robbery sequence is famous for its exciting, completely silent robbery scene.

Director: Jules Dassin

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime, Film-Noir

Runtime: 122 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

G. Allen Johnson

A sweaty-browed exercise in precision filmmaking, but one that doesn't cheat you with wisps of tension and the pretense of attitude. Read full review

100

Shawn Levy

But the human elements -- jealousy, anger, weakness, fortitude, loyalty, vengeance and honor, all acted out by a resolutely realistic cast -- make the movie extraordinary. Read full review

100

David Sterritt

Among the picture's many surprises is a superb robbery scene filmed in a near-total silence that contrasts exhilaratingly with the noisy flamboyance of more recent films in this venerable genre. Read full review

100

Kenneth Turan

One of the great crime thrillers, the benchmark all succeeding heist films have been measured against, it's no musty museum piece but a driving, compelling piece of work, redolent of the air of human frailty and fatalistic doom. Read full review

100

Desmond Ryan

The new print does justice to Philippe Agostini's splendidly atmospheric cinematography. Read full review

100

Jay Carr

It's terse, atmospheric, fatalistic, with vertiginous camera angles and edits offsetting its gray documentary flatness. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

The opening half-hour--the burglary of a jewelry store, filmed in meticulous detail--is as good as its inspiration in The Asphalt Jungle, but the film turns moralistic and sour in the last half, when the thieves fall out. Read full review

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User Reviews

StevieGJD

Sep 13, 2015

This is an amazing film. Extraordinary cinematography and acting (especially for 1955). The shots of 1955 Paris are amazing. A few of the camera shots have been oft repeated in lesser films. The script is tight and interesting. The best heist scene in film history, and without a wordThis is an amazing film. Extraordinary cinematography and acting (especially for 1955). The shots of 1955 Paris are amazing. A few of the camera shots have been oft repeated in lesser films. The script is tight and interesting. The best heist scene in film history, and without a word spoken. I'd never seen Rififi before and it is a classic film. Human frailty can lead to disaster and this film embodies that notion.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

zlatanmazuidi

Apr 1, 2018

The blueprint for all modern heist films, Rififi is still a marvel for its central caper, a meticulous jewelry store burglary that occupies about a quarter of the running time and is conducted in almost complete silence, without dialogue or music. (Indeed, some real-life thieves haveThe blueprint for all modern heist films, Rififi is still a marvel for its central caper, a meticulous jewelry store burglary that occupies about a quarter of the running time and is conducted in almost complete silence, without dialogue or music. (Indeed, some real-life thieves have supposedly used Rififi as a how-to.) Part of the great cross-breeding of American and French crime movies that took place between 1945 and 1960 (from the film noir era in Hollywood to the dawn of the French New Wave), Rififi is a French-made film by an American expatriate director, Jules Dassin.

Its crooks, like the ones who appeared later in films by Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean-Luc Godard, had one foot in postwar French existential anomie and the other in American gangster cool learned from Humphrey Bogart. As so often happens in heist movies, the team pulls off the robbery with aplomb but get tripped up later by each member’s greed and envy and other human frailties. It was a formula so successful that it was soon parodied, by Mario Monicelli’s 1958 Big Deal on Madonna Street (where the thieves are much more inept) and, in turn, by Woody Allen in 2000’s Small Time Crooks.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

gracjanski

Jul 13, 2020

Great movie for such an age. There are some great scenes in it, especially the long situation, where no one is talking. The background to this movie are very interesting also. The director was already popular but have been denunciated by a colleague as a communist (McCarthy time) and neededGreat movie for such an age. There are some great scenes in it, especially the long situation, where no one is talking. The background to this movie are very interesting also. The director was already popular but have been denunciated by a colleague as a communist (McCarthy time) and needed to flee to Europe. There he has been mobbed also and been broke. This movie was a desperate move to get some money… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

EpicLadySponge

Mar 21, 2016

Rififi just seems legendarily enjoyable just by me and critics. If you're a user, please don't forget to check on this movie and give it a positive score if you loved it.

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

ryancarroll88

Sep 29, 2010

"Rififi" is often considered the landmark film that modernized heist movies, and it shines brilliantly as a suave, sexy crime noir (that happens to be French). There are flashes of expressionism throughout - the tantalizing 'Rififi' nightclub song sequence and the shadowy night shots, but"Rififi" is often considered the landmark film that modernized heist movies, and it shines brilliantly as a suave, sexy crime noir (that happens to be French). There are flashes of expressionism throughout - the tantalizing 'Rififi' nightclub song sequence and the shadowy night shots, but the classic quick-slung dialogue and refined criminal setting really give the movie its stride. Of course, it would be impossible to review this movie without mentioning the heist - a complex suspense sequence that takes up a full 28 minutes of running time and has no audio other than the slightest tap of a hammer or patter of a footstep. You can hear your own heartbeat race as each new step of their setup is revealed, bringing a new fear that it won't work or they may be discovered. Even though they carry the stride of first-class cons (they break into the jewelry store wearing complete suits), the characters express both confidence and doubt in their maneuvers, making every second of the continuity exhilarating. When it is finally over, you breathe a sigh of relief for these guys. Even though the heist is the pinnacle of the film, it only takes place halfway through. The second half is a moralist plug that chronicles the downfall of the cons after their perfect crime. Though it has some great scenes and completes the circle of development of each of the characters, it feels like the movie blew off most of its steam by the end. Even though the tension has all but left, there is a strange sense of loss seeing all the characters you cheered for in the first half take their inevitable fall. It's a classic tale, but told with complexity and craft that was completely new for its time, and served as a basis for every other heist-crime movie, from "Reservoir Dogs" to "Ocean's Eleven."… Expand

3 of 3 users found this helpful30

bataguila

Dec 19, 2018

Muy buena, la astucia de los personajes para robar. Sin efectos especiales se logra asombrar a la audiencia, puede cojear un poco en el final

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Daniel2651

Feb 10, 2014

If you like heist films that are filled with suspense and action then you’ll love the French film, Rififi. The film is about an aging gangster called Tony le Stephanois (Jean Servais) who reluctantly decides to team with 2 of his friends and a safecracker, called Cesar (Jules Dassin), and doIf you like heist films that are filled with suspense and action then you’ll love the French film, Rififi. The film is about an aging gangster called Tony le Stephanois (Jean Servais) who reluctantly decides to team with 2 of his friends and a safecracker, called Cesar (Jules Dassin), and do one last job after he’s just been released from a five-year prison sentence. But the heist isn’t easy, the hardness of the job is particularly emphasised when Tony shows how sensitive the alarm system in jewellery shop, they plan to rob, is. Overall most of the film kept me interested right up until the last minute. But scenes in the film were a bit slow and seemed unrelated to the rest of the movie. And I think these scenes made the film too long and they should have been shortened down or deleted altogether. I also think the film title is poorly chosen.
On the other hand most of the film was filled with action and suspense, my favourite scene in the film is the heist which had me sitting on the edge of my seat and hoping that the alarm wouldn’t go off. Shortly after this scene the film also kept me interested by showing that the robbers weren’t safe even after the heist seemed to be successful. The film also got me interested at the beginning by showing Tony as a frail character who had just been released from a five-year prison sentence. This got me interested because it made me think that he may be too old and too weak to rob a jewellery shop with a very complicated alarm system.
I would recommend this film to anyone who is interested in Heist film that are filled with suspense and action and I would rate it 6 out of 10.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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