José Giovanni Movies

Ever since the original Rififi set up the postulate of a spectacular robbery, there have been cinematic "Rififis" in Amsterdam, Paris, Panama, and in this case, Tokyo. A band of thieves get together in Japan's capital to plan a major heist of only one single jewel -- a huge diamond stored in a vault in the Bank of Tokyo. Preparations for the heist are not without problems, and in the end only three of the thieves manage to get into the vault where the diamond is stored. Thanks to modern bank security, the next problem is how to get out of the vault. Directed by Jacques Deray, this melodramatic crime caper shines in the special technical effects department when the electronic gismos that protect bank vaults are highlighted, but the illumination does not extend to human characters in quite the same way. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Roberto La Rocca (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is an ex-gangster whose friend Xavier (Pierre Vaneck) has been unjustly thrown in prison. Indeed, local gang leader Villanova is the one who framed Xavier. La Rocca confronts the mobster and kills him. Later, while helping his mistress (Beatrice Altariba) to fight off an American gang of racketeers, Roberto is caught by the police and is put in the same prison with Xavier. Then the two volunteer to clear land mines left from the last war, hoping to receive a pardon and to buy a quiet farm. The same novel by José Giovanni was later filmed by the author himself as La Scoumoune, again starring Belmondo. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

A criminal on the run finds going home after a decade is harder than he expects in this drama from French filmmaker Claude Sautet. Gangster Abel Davos (Lino Ventura) is wanted for murder in France, and has been living underground in Italy for ten years. Since then, Abel has married Therese (Simone France) and fathered two sons, and he's decided it's time to come home. Abel has planed an elaborate scheme in which he'll steal a fortune to finance his journey and head home with Therese and the boys, but little goes as planned, and he arrives in Paris without his wife and running from the law with two kids in tow. An underworld boss who owes Abel some favors helps him put together a plan to travel across France in an ambulance to avoid suspicion, and recruits a headstrong young gangster, Eric (Jean-Paul Belmondo), to serve as Abel's driver and right-hand-man. En route, Abel tries to settle some old score with criminal associates who betrayed him. Based on a novel by Jose Giovanni, Classe Tous Risques was the first feature film from Sautet, who previously had worked as an assistant director for some of France's most prestigious filmmakers. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi