Borsalino

"Borsalino" is one of the all-time fun French gangster films. I saw it in a cinema in Paris when I studied there eons ago, but just try to find the DVD or videotape! I guess they're trying to increase its rarity value by foisting a much inferior film, Borsalino & Company, on Delon and Belmondo fans. Well, this is the genuine article, more Marseille than the real city, perhaps 70 years or so ago, so just enjoy the great dialogue and scenarios IF YOU EVER MANAGE TO GET YOUR HANDS ON THIS TAPE OR (BETTER) DVD, NOT DUBBED but with subtitles s'il vous plaît. The soundtrack by Claude Bolling (sporadically available on CD) is the perfect accompaniment, and the combination of the French cinema's two most popular young actors made this an all time favorite in France. In the final analysis, style certainly triumphs over substance, and you'll never forget you are seeing Delon and Belmondo. This film has stuck in my mind all these years, and I think you'll be just as impressed as I was... bonne chance!

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.

Jacques Deray, who directed gangster genre movies almost exclusively, has achieved his most popular success (in America) with this movie. It was a stroke to combine the two leading men in roles which were cut out for each of them. Credit for this must go (in part, at least) to Alain Delon, who produced the movie. The very catchy, and hummable music for this movie was by the prolific composer, Claude Bolling, who collaborated with Deray on other films.

My only carping criticism is the length of the movie. I feel that about 15 minutes could have been trimmed in order to keep it moving.

I liked this film and became a Belmondo and Delon fan because of it. The story fosters traditional friendship values : Loyalty , affection , and it underwrites pursuit of dreams.

All production values are a little over dramatic , which worked for me given the slightly hammy machismo of the stars. These guys looked like they really are friends off-screen and maybe had a lot of fun making the film. They are a couple of real characters and it shows through. They're better at playing themselves than at acting

Interesting sepia stills for credit backgrounds which predate Butch Cassidy's use of them as nostalgia evocation.

Somewhat typical of foreign films of the period , the continuity was sometimes uneven . But that wasn't particularly disruptive because of the un-complex story line.

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.