MovieChat Forums > Le voyou (1970) Discussion > A MASTERPIECE

A MASTERPIECE

posted 18 years ago by raghavan-69
5 replies | jump to latest

I just saw The Crook. And was literally blown. 30 years before Tarantino and the Coens, there is this lovely gem of a caper comedy bursting with a clever story, script, performances, technique. Long live French cinema. I am a filmmaker (alleged!) from India and much as i love Hollywood cinema, one rarely gets the X factor of cinematic storytelling in the US. Except perhaps for the COens, De Palma, QT, Scorcese...

I showed The Crook to my assistants right after seeing it and in my excitement blurted out something that i feel i ought to share. I said, Hollywood movies are great BUT can intimidate you with their their mastery over every aspect of the craft and superior budgets. French films on the other hand can LIBERATE you. they tell the same plots but are so personal, so quirky so rich and layered.

Please WATCH THIS MOVIE and read the other flattering comments. I agree with the person who called it a mini masterpiece. If anyone reading this can give me CLAUDE LELOUCH'S Email id or address...i'd be very grateful....I just want to write a two word letter to the man. Wow and Thanks.

While in this raptous happy mood, i recommend HAPPY NEW YEAR too.
Incidentally (trivia for bollywood fans) Lelouch's A man and a woman was remade in the 70s in India by Ramesh Sippy who also made one of the greatest biggest hindi movies SHOLAY.

tHANK YOU for reading this and please feel free to write to me...any fan of The crook IS A FRIEND OF MINE!

[–] coisty 18 years ago

Self-conscious attempt at stylish filmaking with very little substance. So yes it does put one in mind of Tarantino and the Coen brothers.

[–] ph18 16 years ago

Coisty,
For 1969 when made, it was rather pushing out the envelope.
That it is remeniscent of films made over 30 years later
is adequate testemant to its quality.

[–] predone 14 years ago

I saw this film in theatrical release back in 1970, in a little hole-in-the-wall theater. It never made it to "the big time" in my area. I never got the French title (the only foreign languages in which I'm even marginally competent are Spanish, German, and Italian), and looking for it as The Crook (as it was then billed) got me nowhere.

All I could remember was the theme song, and I kept misspelling "Le Voyou." Nice to have picked up on the damned thing at long last. Thirty-nine years? Sheesh.

That the memory of this movie should have stayed with me after one viewing and one viewing only ought to say something about the way it stood out back in 1970, and how other "caper" films have never really been able to replace Le Voyou in the back of my mind. Despite the fact that I had to struggle with not-so-good subtitles (and then there's the observation that French - to someone who understands either Spanish or Italian - is damnably almost intelligible), this film set its hook early and kept my attention in play throughout.

Though I'd like to see it again to make sure, I believe that Le Voyou still has not really been surpassed for genuine craftsmanship in scripting, acting, and photography.

Genuinely fine stuff.

Oh good! My dog found the chainsaw!

[–] spope2 14 years ago

One of the best and most enjoyable Caper flicks EVER! The earlier poster (coisty) knows nothing about 'entertainment', which this movie purely is.

[–] cervantes-4 8 years ago

I agree with every carefully chosen word of Coisty's appraisal of this French flick. The only saving grace making it watchable is Trintignant's obvious star charisma.

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