Max et les ferrailleurs

A beautiful crafted story of manipulation and love. A cold revenge of former judge and a terrible confrontation crowning the end. And great cast. A pure inspired story , a large gallery of nuances, precise work of Michel Piccoli and, sure, the seductive Romy Scheider, A precious François Périer as a sort of revenger , prepairing his moment.

A beautiful fresco of a lost time, in same measure, the expected policier suggesting a serious dose of nostalgia and fair structure of machiavelism , in inspired way, giving to viewer, in nice way, clues and doubts about final.

So, a hold up in which the contribution of a cop is decisive, a story of love , in silence but more powerful than you suppose and a wise final.

Few people know it,but Claude Sautet was first a film noir connoisseur.His first work,"classes tout risques" was beating Jean -Pierre Melville at his own game;the follow-up ,"l'arme à gauche" ,is difficult to see nowadays ,but if you can ,do not think twice.

In the seventies,from "les choses de la vie" onwards,Sautet became the cinema de qualité director .I mean it pejoratively.Whereas "les choses de la vie" remains watchable today ,thanks to a sensational editing,the other works such as "Cesar et Rosalie " "Vincent François Paul et les autres" "Mado" are depicting a bourgeois life ,speaking of people "in danger of despair"(Sautet Dixit) but with an optimism that was almost unbearable in the crisis of the seventies.The screenplays became very loose,without any dramatic progression .You can sum up "Cesar et Rosalie" like this :"Rosalie loves Cesar ,but she also loves David.What will become of her ?":everything taking place in desirable mansions ,what a contemporary critic aptly called " un espace Cardin" This is two-bit psychological drama ,with ponderous symbolism,as "Mado" will confirm with its infuriating scene where the cars get boggeddown in the mud .a critic said then "it's the movie that gets bogged down itself.

"Max et les ferrailleurs " is a different matter;by combining the film noir side of the two first opus with what will be developed (in a very gauche way) in the "psychological" future films ,Sautet brings it all back home.It stands out as his most sustained piece of work in the seventies.An absolutely intriguing work,with a beautiful Romy Schneider who keeps the audience waiting,only appearing after 30 minutes.Her relationship with cop Piccoli is very shady,sometimes recalling the Fonda/Sutherland one in Pakula's "Klute" :it really stands comparison with it.A wonderful depiction of a popular milieu,in the suburbs of Paris (Nanterre) ,where the secondary characters seem to be out of a Duvivier or a Clouzot work.But it's finally the Jacques Becker spirit Sautet captures here ,and it's really too bad that,after such an interesting movie,he fell into the trap of the academic cinema de qualité.

I went to see this movie today in NEW YORK is going to be show for one week only and for the first time is show in USA, the movie is very good with a great end but what make this movie good is ROMY SCHNEIDER 1938-1982 when she came out in the screen ,she play a prostitute named lily, the question i ask myself was how come somebody can be so beautiful so perfect i have not word to described this woman and beside her talent she was so good in her part i love this movie, ROMY IN REAL LIFE WAS NEVER HAPPY SHE HAVE A5 YEARS LOVE AFFAIR WITH ALAIN DELON AND AFTER THAT SHE MARRIED THE FATHER OF HER LATE SON David EVENTUALLY SHE DIVORCED HIM AND MARRIED DANIEL BIASINI THE FATHER OF HER DAUGHTER SARAH

This is a very well acted and directed police story about a French detective investigating a gang of thieves which is headed by an old friend of his. What begins as a cynical film about violence and prostitution turns into a tender love story.

Max (Michel Piccoli) was once a judge but resigned, frustrated by letting guilty perps go due to lack of evidence. He joins the Paris Police Force and becomes a detective. Same thing happens - he can't arrest guilty mobsters for the same reason. As this obsession begins to consume him, he devises a plan, which amounts to a sting operation. He hopes this will restore some respect for truth, justice and the French way.

He befriends a prostitute who is also the girlfriend of a small time hood, who was once a childhood friend. Complications arise (you knew that, didn't you?), as the girl is attractive and comes with a heart. Max is stoic as well as obsessed and tries hard not to let sentiment interfere with his plan.

The film's pacing is uneven and involves a great deal of table-setting, so the film takes a while to get going. All the action takes place in the last 20 minutes - be ready to check your watch several times. But the ending is worth the wait, and that's as far as I can go without giving it away. Piccoli gives a thoughtful performance as a man driven by his conception of justice. He is tall and lean and is a commanding presence throughout. Romy Schneider as the bimbo gives what must be her best performance after years of fluff and junk.

This was apparently the film's US premiere as it was not shown here in its initial release. It played at Lincoln Center, NYC, 8/12.