Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) poster & wallpaper

Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel

Four thieves bring off a brilliant heist in total silence, then run afoul of each other.

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95% liked it

5,206 ratings

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93% liked it

40 critics

Unrated, 1 hr. 53 min.

Directed by: Jules Dassin

Release Date: June 5, 1956

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DVD Release Date: April 24, 2001

Stats: 426 reviews

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Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Poster Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Marie Sabouret and Jean Servais Carl Möhner and Janine Darcey Poster Poster Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Poster Poster Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Robert Manuel and Claude Sylvain Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Jean Servais, Carl Möhner and Robert Manuel Poster Marcel Lupovici, Robert Hossein, Pierre Grasset and Magali Noël
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Flixster Reviews (426)

  • ebs90
    August 19, 2009
    ebs90
    Rififi is a truly absorbing, brilliantly executed film by French filmmaker Jules Dassin. In it, a group of four thieves plan the perfect heist, but are ultimately betrayed by their passions and impulses. It is a very pessimistic, dark masterpiece.

    Jean Servais plays the broodi...( read more)ng, lonely main character. He brings the brilliance into the scheme; he's a tortured, experienced criminal who is just out of jail. He is constantly quiet, keeps his motives secret, and conceals with zeal his weak points. Above all, he is the anti hero who redeems himself at the end, if such word as "redemption" can apply. He and his French friend, whose son is his godson, and two Italian thieves -one of which is an expert safebox breaker- begin to plan a 20 million Francs robbery at a jewelry store. During the first half of the film, the group is shown in painstaking observation and evaluation of the routine in and an around the store. Finally, the night comes to execute the plan, and this develops into one of the most fascinating, maybe even exquisite, robbery scenes I have ever seen. For many minutes there is hardly a sound, except perhaps that of the rest of the audience in the theater, hearts beating or nervous breathing. It is wonderfully hypnotizing and mortifying, filmed with such precision and style that it immediately produces admiration. I think that to any film lover this will be close to an ecstatic experience.

    Technical perfection is not the sole, dominant aspect of Rififi. The four main characters are very well outlined and very well acted; Jean Servais is as archtypical a noir leading man as there ever was in American cinema. Together they embody the carelessness of having nothing to lose, the fierceness of wanting to win everything, and the sadness that such emptiness must helplessly imply. There are also the gloomy, atmospheric shots in the streets of Paris to set the mood, and provide background for the twists and turns of the plot. With a clear narrative style, Rififi successfuly incorporates fragmented scenes, composed of angular takes against the sky and roads of Paris, in a way that reminded me very much of later New Wave films.

    It is not only a thrilling, suspenseful "action" film, but Du Rififi Chez les Hommes is also a complex drama and styllistic gem. It has violence, humor, sex, and crimes that do not go unpunished. One of those films that really seem to come full circle and satisfy not only us, but themselves.
  • flixsterman
    July 23, 2009
    flixsterman
    Vintage 1955 French film noir that's reminiscent of The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Jean Servais brings a certain ambiance to the lead role that's part George Raft and part Humphrey Bogart with just a little Joe Pesci thrown in for good measure. Good stuff. Very, very good stuff.
  • sanjurosamurai
    April 28, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    an absolutely captivating crime story and probably one of the three best heist films ever made. the second act, a 33 minute heist sequence with no dialogue and limited score, is probably the greatest heist sequence in film history. the film also takes the bold and genius step o...( read more)f not having the heist be the climax as dassin is aware enough to realize that the heist is never the true end to any heist story. the final act is brilliant and even more enthralling than the heist itself. my only criticism is a subjective one in that i spent two hours investing in the story and its characters and i felt that the final scene lacked closure to an otherwise perfect story. all together this is really one of the most clever films ever made.
  • pier007
    April 20, 2008
    pier007
    Expatriate filmmaker Jules Dassin pulls off a paris style noir masterpiece. Starring a great world-weary french Bogey Jean Servais. full of all my beloved noir keys, darkness, gloomy atmospheres, losers without a dime but with everything at stake, a well planned but ultimately go...( read more)ne wrong heist and the unavoidable disastrous destiny knocking on everybody's door. suspenseful, deep and utterly compelling.
  • jplong39
    March 20, 2008
    jplong39
    Captivating tale of the "one more heist" genre
  • ElCochran90
    October 21, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "For a job with you he'll come. Cesar! There's not a safe that can resist Cesar and not a woman that Cesar can resist."

    DU RIFIFI CHEZ LES HOMMES (1955)


    Director: Jules Dassin
    Country: France
    Genre: Crime / Drama / Thril...( read more)ler
    Length: 122 minutes

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    Du Rififi Chez les Hommes is one of the greatest and most stylish examples in cinema history of the amazing outcome caused by mixing the beautiful cinematic movement of the French New Wave with the unique and legendary film-noir genre. Despite that giant French figures like Jean-Pierre Melville (Bob le Flambeur [1956], Le Cercle Rouge [1970]), François Truffaut (Les Quatre Cents Coups [1959], Tirez Sur le Pianiste [1960]) and Jean-Luc Godard (À Bout de Souffle [1960], Bande à Part [1964]) were the ones who would subsequently conquer the big screens of Europe and of the world for approximately three decades of stylish crime filmmaking, Jules Dassin was audacious and adventurous enough to not be excluded from the game and directs one of the first popular crime films that established a new type of filmmaking within the genre, talking about the editing, the direction and the kind of characters present in the film. It could even be said that this is one of the best crime films ever made, and certainly one of the most influential as well as plot as style goes, considering the endless number of times its plot and approach were imitated, but naturally never duplicated.

    Tony Le Stéphanois is a man who has just been released from prison after 5 years and finds out about the infidelity of his girl Mado, so he decides to make a team with his old pals Jo and Mario to pull off a highly elaborate heist to steal the jewelry of the safe of the night-club L' Âge d'Or, which owner is Mado's new lover. Cesar, who is an Italian safe expert, will also join in the team. Of course, although everything goes according to plan, things start to go wrong. The film was greatly received in the Cannes Film Festival of 1955, winning a highly deserved award for Best Director and receiving a Golden Palm nomination also for Jules Dassin. Although the popular opinion may agree with the fact that Jules Dassin was the best director of the year, the award went to Delbert Mann for Marty (1955) which, although it was a good film, most of its success was achieved thanks to Ernest Borgnine's extraordinary performance.

    The characters are a conglomeration of multiphacetic, appealing personalities. Just like in a good old classic film-noir, the antagonists of the story do not differ much from the personalities of the protagonists. Although the film intentionally deals with passionate lovers and mindlessly ambitious criminals, all of them have a lot of style, interesting peculiar characteristics and motivations, including very attractive (and occasionally hilarious) natural reactions. Of course, the human element intervenes and the result is catastrophic. The streets of Paris and a wonderful black-and-white cinematography function as a motor for the disproportionate ambitions and the material longings of each and every one of them. Du Rififi Chez les Hommes is ultimately a film as passionate as life itself, depicting the human nature in its purest form and how the emotional element is always an inevitable factor that is constantly getting in the way of supposedly perfect schemes, mirroring mankind's ego.

    The technical aspects of the movie are unparalleled film talents. The obviously most memorable moment is the heist sequence which lasts approximately 32 minutes of pure silence. Although putting it this way may seem like an eternity, the beautiful use of light and darkness, the facial expressions and gestures of the characters, the creativity put throughout that particular scene and the realism with which it was shot, made of it one of the best scenes ever committed to celluloid, despite its quietness and slowness. It is its quietness and slowness the features that made Du Rififi Chez les Hommes an influential masterpiece for its genre. Reportedly, the use of silence and consequent tension was beautifully constructed with the mere purpose of realism. Ironically enough, the film stopped its screening in Mexico after several burglaries had taken place using the specific methods used in the film. Dassin's direction and style of filmmaking of the movie influenced several European crime films of the same kind, most noticeable in master Jean-Pierre Melville, who one year later would direct his first famous and great film Bob le Flambeur (1956). The most noticeable homage to Du Rififi Chez les Hommes he did was in the robbery sequence of one of his masterpieces, Le Cercle Rouge (1970), excluding some similarities regarding both stories.

    Stereotypical portrayals may be found throughout, but the film is neither insulting nor degrading by any means. It is always a nostalgic experience to witness a timeless crime masterpiece that, once again, features the opposite sex in a considerably contrasting manner. The man is the macho type whose pride unavoidably overcomes his wrongfully prioritized human relationships, despite the character being the funny, the ugly, the irresistible or the socially rejected one. The woman is shown as the passionate and mysterious specie that is able to control and literally manipulate men because of the resulting love and physical attraction it causes in them. The final passion and chemistry between these two races combined with the elegancy of the novel by Auguste Le Breton and the resulting screenplay guarantee unforgettable moments of brilliance and two hours of exquisite romance and suspense.

    The film-noir genre, the editing, the several talented performances and the most productive and astonishing way such a ridiculously low budget was used are its most notorious highlights. It was directed in the most correct and appropriate form. This is certainly a true work of a master. Despite how Americanized the director would become in his upcoming projects with a present European feeling, Hollywood's modern lack of ideas owe full credit to an interestingly different landmark piece of filmmaking. It is arguably the best crime film of the French New Wave excluding the ones that intrinsically would involve romance, such as the films by Godard and Truffaut, thanks to the dedicated work of a whole crew.

    100/100
  • hossein13
    October 12, 2009
    hossein13
    October 2009 - Another interesting attempt by Dassin to mix the crime and noir genera. I find it weaker than his earlier works and rather than a good mixture of the two genera, it splits the movie in two parts which don't match so well with each other.
  • thestranger90
    September 26, 2009
    thestranger90
    One of the best heist films of all time.
  • orbtastic
    September 22, 2009
    orbtastic
    Great film.

    The heist is ingenious and tense, and made more so by the complete absence of words. Apparently it set off a series of copycat robberies.

    Another French film where the "hero" beats his woman and she comes backt to help him, what is it with them?
  • littlecharmer1959
    March 30, 2009
    littlecharmer1959
    Best heist film ever! 'Rififi' is simply amazing!

View All Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) Reviews

Critic Reviews

September 27, 2002
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

There is something else unique about the heist scene: It is the centerpiece of the film, not the climax. full review

View more Du Rififi Chez les Hommes (Rififi) reviews at RottenTomatoes.com

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