Borsalino and Co.

BORSALINO & CO. (1974) starred Alain Delon and Ricardo Cucciolla.

This is a sequel to the highly acclaimed BORSALINO which apparently is unavailable. Well, if there is one thing I hate it's dubbing. This was dubbed. Delon's voice was too low. The voices always sound disembodied to me.

The story takes place in the mid-1930s France, and it concerns a gangland war between the Volpone (Cucciolla) gang and the Roch Siffredi (Delon) gang. Initially, Volpone wins and plans to saturate the country with heroin, but Siffredi carefully works out his revenge.

It's a typical Godfather-type film without being the Godfather. Lots of cars crashing, violence, shooting, and a particularly unpleasant final scene. All very macho.

On IMDb one of the posters said, "Alain Delon, already past his prime..." Yeah, what a dog. He was a GOD, and with his hair slicked back, evening clothes, and beautifully tailored suits, he looked as if he walked off the pages of Italian Vogue. If your idea of "prime" is 25, that's sad. To each age its own beauty.

Alain Delon, already past his prime, returns to the tried-and-trusted formula of BORSALINO (1970), a fondly-remembered gangster pastiche (which I had watched some time ago, albeit dubbed, and been somewhat underwhelmed by) with a surprisingly mean-spirited but ultimately indifferent follow-up. The film is one of a staggering 9 Delon made with director Deray (the only other one I've seen is LA PISCINE [1969], which I remember liking). However, since I had purchased LE SAMOURAI (1967) while in Hollywood and recently ordered LE CERCLE ROUGE (1970), I thought I might as well give this one a try...

Though Delon served also as producer, he delivers a typically blank-faced performance and the film, with no new ideas in either script or direction, is tolerable mainly for its bouts of excessive, almost cartoonish violence. The international cast is reliable but their contribution is pretty ordinary on this occasion: Riccardo Cucciolla in a dual role (!) as Delon's gangleader rival and his twin; Rene' Koldehoff as Cucciolla's heavy-set chief thug; Catherine Rouvel (still looking gorgeous 15 years after swimming in the nude for Jean Renoir in LUNCH ON THE GRASS [1959]) also reprising her role from the original as a high-class prostitute and Delon's old flame, Daniel Ivernel (from Bunuel's DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID [1964]) as the level-headed Police Commissioner, Alfredo Lastretti (from Jess Franco's VENUS IN FURS [1968]) as one of Delon's lieutenants...plus a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo from Anton Diffring (perhaps imposed on the film by its backers, BORSALINO AND CO. being a French/Italian/West German co-production).

In Marseille, after the funeral of his best friend and partner François Capella, Roch Siffredi (Alain Delon) and his gangsters capture an Italian gangster that tells that the hit was ordered by the mobster Giovanni Volpone (Riccardo Cucciolla). They also learn that his brother is coming to Marseille by train. Siffredi and his men intercept the train and throw Volpone's brother on the rails. Soon Volpone kills Siffredi's men, destroys his businesses, throws his right-hand Fernand (Lionel Vitrant) with a big stone into the sea and captures Siffredi that goes missing. He also uses his influence to replace Inspector Fanti (Daniel Ivernel) by the corrupt Inspector Cazenave (André Falcon). Fernand survives and looks for Siffredi, who is interned in a hospice. Siffredi flees from the asylum with the support of Fernand and they escape to Italy by boat. Years go by until a truck of Borsalino and Co. Travels to Marseille with Siffredi, Fernand and their new gang. Retribution is coming.

"Borsalino and Co." is the sequel of the 1970 "Borsaline", also directed by Jacques Deray with a story full of action of war of gangsters. The revenges of Roch Siffredi and Giovanni Volpone are impressive, especially the one to force the enemy to drink bottles of booze. The conclusion promises a sequel that never happened. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Borsalino e Cia." ("Borsalino and Co.")

I rented this DVD today and was very disappointed. I had been seeking "Borsalino" and the clerk said, "Borsalino and Co." is in the foreign section. I wasn't yet aware there even was a sequel. I haven't seen "Borsalino" since its original '72 theatrical run. At that time I went to see it three times. I remember seeing the first run of "The Sting" and thinking it was good but not as good as "Borsalino". I loved the original, the music by Claude Bolling was unforgettable. The original had masterful dynamic interplay and tension between Belmondo and Delon. I began watching "Borsalino and Co." and soon realized it was trying yet failing to recapture its predecessor's magic. I loved Delon in "The Sicilian Clan" and other films. He is a cool screen presence, but was so effective contrasted with Belmondo's volatility.

'Borsalino and Co.' (the English title is 'Blood on the Streets') is a good case study of the risks of 'sequel' films. Film director Jacques Deray and producer Alain Delon tried in 1974 to repeat the success of 'Borsalino' released on screen in 1970, which featured Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo, in an elegant and well choreographed production, in which the two mega-stars almost mathematically divided their time and space on the screen, being extremely careful not to shadow each other. Francois Capella, the hero played by Belmondo, dies in a spray of bullets at the end of the first film, and 'Borsalino and Co.' begins with his funeral. Roch Siffredi (Alain Delon) will spend the sequel looking for the assassins of his friend, taking revenge upon them in a cruel and spectacular way and fighting with his rivals for the control of Marseilles in the mid-1930s. The task will not be easy.

Although it is happening at the same period and in the same locations, the story of 'Borsalino and Co.' has a tone different from the one of the original movie. If there is a moral motivation in 'Borsalino' that balances the character and deeds of the heroes this was friendship. Friendship remains in the second film only a pretext mentioned in the first scenes, revenge takes its place as a feeling that guides the actions of Roch Siffredi. 'Borsalino' was more like a mobsters movie inspired by successful similar American films. 'Borsalino and Co.' slips much further into the 'film noir' genre. Less successful are the political or historical nuances, the introduction of the fascist association of Roch's enemies seems forced. From the light atmosphere, the local color, the humor and the fun of the original film, there is nothing left, even Claude Bolling's music is less inspired this time.

'Borsalino and Co.'o and Co.' it's not a bad movie. It is a cursive action film, and the story has something from 'Count de Monte Cristo', if we are already in Marseilles. Delivered by the need to be careful about the pharmaceutical partition of the screen with Belmondo, Delon dominates the film and creates a role closer to that he had other gangster films in which he played the role of the bad guy with an angelic face. However, the rest of the casting is much less inspired than the first movie in the series, and none of the supporting roles provide the opportunity for an acting creation to remember more than five minutes after the screening ends. 'Borsalino' was a special film, a piece of entertainment with the chance to be remembered long after watching it. 'Borsalino and Co.' it's just a reasonable vintage action movie. It ends with a 'to be followed' sign that never happened, and I believe that the producer and the director were inspired not to continue the series.