Borsalino

Director Jean-Pierre Melville told his biographer that his plan was to reunite France's two greatest stars of the 1960-70s, Delon and Belmondo, in LE CERCLE ROUGE, but Belmondo thought his part meager by comparison with Delon's, rejected it, Gian Maria Volonté replaced him, and so BORSALINO, directed by Jacques Deray, remains the only film in which Delon and Belmodo appeared together.

Melville was an infinitely better director than the mediocre Deray. I doubt that a period film (1930s) like BORSALINO would interest Melville, but in the hands of the latter I am certain that BORSALINO would be far grittier, realistic, and less tailored for Delon.

Make no mistake, I rate Delon a better actor than Belmondo but, as the film's producer, it is obvious that he had decisionmaking powers that Belmondo did not, and you sense how strenuous the rapport must have been between the two men, with Belmondo feeling belittled and duped, and with Delon getting extensive "look good" shots throughout.

Despite being the better actor, Delon is too wooden in this film. He always looks stiff as he tries to display his famous physical attributes. In turn, Belmondo just looks like he is honoring the contract and can't wait for the shooting to be over. According to reports, Delon and Belmondo hardly talked to each other during production, and never again after shooting was over.

Even the usually reliable Bouquet looks pedestrian in this production, and the female lead, Rouvel, is a near non-entity. She starts as the love object both men want, then seems to go with Delon, but finally stays with Belmondo, and one can see that she looks lost. Her part is small and adds zero to the film.

Cinematography is careless. Stunts are poor. The fight between the two men at their first encounter would have suited a Bud Spencer-Terence Hill vehicle, but actors like D&B are wasted here.

The meandering script is very glib, keep skipping over details, and there's far too much padding. 30 minutes could have been removed and the film might even be better for it.

Borsalino tells the rise and fall of two small-time crooks in 1930 Marseille. Their rivalry soon becomes a strong friendship, allowing them to reach a place in the sun among other gangsters, even threatening the truce between the two ruthless families that control the city.

Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon shine in this enjoyable recreation of the ever-corrupted French city. The sets and costumes are terrific, and the music by Claude Bolling became an instant classic. So classic in fact that the director Jacques Deray over-uses it in some parts. The secondary characters are interesting somewhat but clearly overshadowed by the two leads. As for the script, it manages many enjoyable moments wandering between funny and tragic bits, however it is too hammy to totally convince and is not helped by a very dated type of editing. I don't know if it was to mimic the style of older gangster movies, but the movie should've been tighter on that point.

All in all, a very decent French movie. Far from flawless, but recommended.

For some reason my little local library in Minnesota has this movie. Its about a pair of small-time criminals in 1930s Marsielles, France who rise to be gangster bosses. The movie looks pretty good, with nice period clothes, cars and decor, and the guys look the part in their 30's gangster suits (especially the dark-haired guy). And Lola the girlfriend is pretty hot. And there's some decent tommy-gun violence. But the characters seem cardboard and undeveloped, and the dialog is not very interesting (maybe something was lost in the dubbing). I sensed they were trying to imitate an old-style Hollywood gangster movie a la Cagney; was 30's France really this much like Capone's Chicago? So, although I am a big fan of old gangster movies, I wouldn't rate this one too highly.

This may not be the best of Jacques Deray's nine collaborations with Alain Delon but it is certainly the most commercially successful. Delon maintained that Deray was the director with whom he had the greatest affinity which is praise indeed considering his sterling work for such luminaries as Visconti, Melville, Verneuil and Clément!

Based upon Scammano's novel 'Bandits at Marseilles' about real life gangsters Carbone and Spirito whose names have naturally been changed, this is essentially a vehicle for Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo who are both at the height of their popularity and in their physical prime. The pairing proved to be a masterstroke as both actors possess charisma in spades whilst Delon's measured coolness is balanced by Belmondo's easy-going amiability.

Set in 1930's Marseilles this has excellent period detail, a catchy if somewhat repetitious theme by Claude Bolling, female interest in the shape of elegant Francoise Christophe, mysterious Corinne Marchand and delectable Catherine Rouvel and as a bonus we have the always good value Michel Bouquet as a shady lawyer.

Plenty of mucho-macho posturing of course and corpses galore with a shootout set in an abattoir that will have assorted veggies and vegans foaming at the mouth. The imaginative ways in which various low-lifes are bumped off anticipate 'The Godfather' although Deray's film lacks the psychological depth of Coppola's masterpiece. Deray was also said to be influenced by Melville but lacks that director's Existentialist feel. What is certain is that Deray made his mark in the thriller genre which he considered to be 'spectacle of the higher order.'

I watched this movie for the first time when i was 15 and continue watching it today,this movie is timeless, i was already familiar with Alain Delon and most of the works by Jean-Paul Belmondo,the two actors are phenomenal by themselves and were electrifying together in this movie.I find no fault in this representation of french mobsters in the 30's, and further feel that this movies should have received similar praise to movies such as our more recent "the Godfather".The movie starts off in a french Bistro with François Capella(Belmondo)shooting pool, and a lady sitting at the bar, Roch Siffredi(Delon)storms in and request the lady(Lola) to leave with him, and this results in a fist fight between Capella and Siffredi, and the movie catapults from their first meeting.The movie is well shot even by todays standards, the story is quite complete and will not leave questioning much once it is over. if you can get hold of it, it is definitely worth watching.