La bonne année

Claude Lelouch is known for having left a copious filmography behind him and in which very few films reach the scale of the masterwork, except maybe "un Homme et Une Femme" (1966) and "la Vie, l'Amour, la Mort" (1969). A good proportion is to be pigeonholed in the category of entertaining, homespun films and "la Bonne Année" has its place among them.

Straddling between two genres: the gangster movie and the sentimental movie, the Lelouch 1973 vintage features Lino Ventura who is released from prison for the new year in 1968 and with a little help from his accomplish plans to commit a break-in to a jeweler's. But in parallel, he falls in love with a lovely female antique dealer.

These two types of cinematographic genres are difficult to handle together but as we are in Lelouch's universe you've got to accept the rules of the game. And the cohesive transition between them works thanks to Lelouch's fluid making and with a lot of humor going for it. I especially love the sequences when he dresses up as an old, rich man who visits the jeweler's and talks about his sister who is at hospital in a serious state. The steps of the operation are shot with clarity and precision. One also appreciates Lino Ventura's mischievous performance and the fact that Lelouch managed to subdue some superfluous features pertaining to him which aren't too overwhelming and are even funny to the pleasure of the projection. So, you can forgive the filmmaker for having incorporated pseudo-philosophical dialogs between Ventura and his female partner about love, wedding and the stability of the couple as well as being amused by a little juggling of the color and black and white concerning the cinematography. The outset and the end are shot in black and white, probably to give an arty feeling to the film even if one can deem this action as gratuitous.

But never mind, if you've got to list the ten most watchable films in Lelouch's work, this one should be part of it.

Lino Ventura shows here another of his talents, not necessarily the rough, tough virile man. He plays a gangster preparing a major jewellery store heist. A very brilliant and intelligent job. And besides this scheme, he falls in love with a woman who happens to work not far from his "target". Françoise Fabian is also at her best in this sensitive role; both her and Ventura are in a magic symphony, harmony, for the best pleasure of the audience. I have been surprised to get totally swallowed by this poignant crime flick. There was a remake in the eighties, with Peter Falk in Ventura's character, and directed by John Avildsen. Charles Gerard is also wonderful here, as Lino Ventura's sidekick.

Great character studies of the jewel thief who falls in love with an antique dealer while chasing a joint in the South of France. Brilliant dialogue, brilliant performances by FF and Lino Ventura. Good comic turn by LV's partner in crime too.

I give this film a nine, for two reasons: 1. Sharp movie script, well delivered by the protagonists; and 2. Lino in his grave won't like this, but Francoise Fabian steals this movie from him with a truly compelling performance - as a socially and professionally sophisticated and sumptuously attractive woman who is a foil for all men, save Lino Ventura, who conveys at least as much personal chemistry in this film as a block of cement. I mean, when they are reunited following his six-year stint behind bars - he has nothing to say to her, when she is all choked-up with emotion! Ventura gives the expression "man of few words" a renaissance interpretation.

Ventura, frankly, was much better cast as the detective out to corral the jewel thieves, in "The Sicilian Clan," than he is here, as the reticent-personality jewel thief, and developing "love interest" of Francoise Fabian. She is so beguiling in this film, looking an ageless 30 instead of her 40 years of age at the time, one wonders if Lelouche might have considered her opposite Trintignant in "A Man And A Woman," some six years earlier? She deserved as least as much international recognition as many of her contemporaries of this time who outshined her, beginning with Claudia Cardinale, Elke Sommer, and Elsa Martinelli, none of whom could have carried this film to stellar heights, as did FF.

This film was pretty good and it was nice to see older men in lead roles who are not particularly sexy. Our hero(?) is a sophisticated thief who has intricately planned, along with his friend, the theft of a famous jewel store. It reminded me of the movies Rafifi and Grand Slam, though this caper was performed by 2 instead of it being a larger group effort. Also, it differs in that it diverges into a romance that builds with a woman whose store is next to the jewelers. Although I liked this relationship part of the movie, the speed at which the woman fell for him and the depth of this love seemed rather unreal, but this is a small quibble for an otherwise excellent film.