A rarely screened black and white French crime gem! The film resurrected the career of the legendary actor Jean Gabin (Pépé le Moko, La Grande Illusion) who plays a gangster named Max. The film has many of the earmarks of why we like the crime genre: rival crime syndicates, nightclub setting, loyalty, deceit, and a climatic mob shoot out. According to the Criterion release, “In 1998 a critics poll in the magazine Positif chose Grisbi as the finest French crime film of all time.”
“Every filmmaker from Francois Truffaut to Quentin Tarantino owes something of a debt to Becker’s black-and-white boldness.” – Janice Page, Boston Globe
“A wonderful treasure from the seemingly inexhaustible cornucopia of crackling French crime dramas.” – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times
