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 & 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.

An old recipe of crime-thriller-revenge, good for fans of Alain Delon but easy to see it with large indulgence today. All is more than familiar, correct and predictable against the effort to surprise. So, murders and America. And, sure, Alain Delon as the blank-faced hero.

'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.

I have been a fan of Alain Delon for many years, since first seeing his stunning performance as Tom Ripley in Rene Clement's superb Plein Soleil. He's one of the great icons of French cinema.

Borsalino was a film that I remembered very fondly; although I hadn't seen it since its first release it has always remained vividly in my memory, and when I saw that Kino had released it on disc I ordered it on line. What I received was this sequel, which I wasn't even aware had been made, however I watched it and was hugely disappointed. If like me you remember the original fondly, then avoid the sequel.

According to the distributors the original Borsalino is not available. Ever the optimist, I'll continue to try to track down a copy.