The Pariah

Scoumoune

Scoumoune

Here the José Giovanni's trademark, touch, is everywhere; a style close to the Auguste Le Breton's one. Underworld rough, brutal rules, codes of friendship, loyalty, honor that always lead to disaster, tragedy, where no one survives. It is gripping, taut, guts grabbing. Adapted by José Giovanni from his own novel. As Samuel Fuller with SHOCK CORRIDOR and DEAD PIDGEON ON BEETHOVEN STRASSE. Jean Paul Belmondo at his top, so Michel Constantin. The adaptation is very very faithful, nearly shot book handed. I can't get tired to see it over an over again. And I don't even speak of the fantastic, awesome François De Roubaix's score, with barrel organ.... A milestone in French gangster movies, written by a great specialist.

My wife and I were discussing which was the worst film we had ever seen since being together. We both said 'Hit Man' So we came to IMDb to see what date it was and what rating it got. We were stunned! 7 /10?? We remember this as a boring film, and several times during the showing we thought it was ending and we were getting ready to leave, but no, it continued. We can't believe that it was only on for 101mins. It seemed like days. Since seeing IMDb giving it 7/10 we thought about finding it and watching it again. The thought lasted under a second by which time we decided we would prefer to watch the paint dry on our newly decorated door. This film may improve with age, but I doubt it. Not many films do.

With these words by an old organ-grinder, the film (German title "Der Mann aus Marseille") ends.. and leaves me wondering. What was that? Twelve years (of which six in prison) in the life of a "gentleman gangster" in Southern France? Belmondo sure acts the role, somewhat charmingly. But even though he has most screen time, neither his background nor his character development are made very plausible. We learn he is a loyal friend, has useful friends, can shoot well (but always after the foe had shot first), and looks good. Claudia Cardinale just looks good here, and doesn't have much else to do or say. The part of Xavier I found the most interesting and touching. Was this designed to be a (very short) TV mini series as well? Freeze-frames between episodes gave me that idea, but at, say, four episodes of 25 minutes it couldn't have been such a Big Thing either. Plot-wise, it packs a lot: gang war, courtroom, gang war, prison life, WW2, mine-sweeping (which I found most fascinating), and back to gang war. But in the given playtime, none of those were lingered on much, and left me a not very deep impression. Plus point: the French was spoken very clearly (while in La grande illusion yesterday I hardly understood a word :^), so it's good for language learners. Also, the discussions about handicapped (Freddy had lost his legs, Xavier his left arm) was interesting. Also, in a minor role (Un homme de main / Burglar), a rather young Gerard Depardieu.

I never read the book that this movie is based on, but I suspect it contains the plot details which the movie just supplies on a whim, if at all. As a matter of fact, the movie just feels like a compilation of the book's every second chapter's climax. You'd might think this skipstone structure a major flaw, but strangely enough, you'd be wrong. This flick is a delight --the rap-atap cadence of perfunctory set-ups and upsets thrilled me to the bone. Of all of Belmondo's French gangster pictures, this is the one he should be remembered for.

There is much to say about this movie. But who has time to read reviews nowadays? First of all, Jose Giovanni, director and screenwriter, is an expert of the genre, he himself was a convict. There, in prison, he wrote some novels, which were then screened. This is one of them. The distribution is of great caliber: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Constantin and Claudia Cardinale, three sacred monsters, all three gorgeous. All the other actors are natural and credible. Among them, a very young and very supple Gerard Depardieu. Francois de Roubaix's music is high-class, as usual. This is how to write a review, short and on the subject, not retell the action of the movie, as many are doing...

That 's what the title means ,and it's the hero's nickname. Fact: in 1960,Jacques Becker released his final masterpiece "Le Trou" ,the screenplay of which was written by Jose Giovanni;the following year,after his father's death ,Jean Becker made his first effort "Un Nommé La Rocca" based on another Giovanni's screenplay. "La Scoumoune" is a remake of "Un Nommé La Rocca".Giovanni uses his own screenplay.The differences between the two movies are minimal,the early version being perhaps more realistic in the prison scenes (Giovanni spent some time in jail and he knew what he was talking about).Belmondo stars in both.The ending is slightly modified.Highlights remain the scenes on the beach. "La Scoumoune" was highly successful ,because Belmondo had become huge and his co-star Claudia Cardinale was also much more famous than Christine Kaufman ,the starlet of the late fifties /early sixties sword and sandal flicks .