Movies at Home - Rififi, The Mummy, Knives Out and Paris Je Taime

 

The 1955 French crime film Rififi, superbly directed by the black listed American Jules Dassin, paved the way for the making of heist movies for years to come. The actual jewel robbery, that involves breaking through a concrete floor and the intricacies of cutting open a steel safe, is like a silent movie. It takes hours over a whole night and it's daylight before the crooks emerge. I loved the exceptional exterior shots of Paris in winter, the photography and digital restoration is excellent. 

However, the aftermath gets very violent as everything goes pear shaped. One reviewer said it "turns moralistic and sour in the last half as thieves fall out". 

I saw The Mummy with Tom Cruise at the cinema in 2017 and thought it was a suitable film for Alison to see.  This is what I said at the time: 

I cannot remember Tom Cruise trying to play the lovable rogue. In future he should steer clear of any such role. He is so unconvincing, you laugh with embarrassment, not at the wit. The story and the action sequences are fine, but the dialogue is awful. And Russell Crowe. Well!

Another movie I had seen at the cinema. Taking advantage of my month's free trial of Amazon Prime, I picked this for our Saturday night film. Alison enjoyed it.

An American cinematic whodunit with an Agatha Christie type cast brought together following the death of patriarch Christopher Plummer. Much more of a whodunit  than a howdunit. I guessed that early on and I'm notorious for never doing that. Daniel Craig is the private investigator whose southern accent lapses more than once. Rian Johnson deserves great credit for both writing and directing.

I think I must have seen Paris, Je Taime sometime in the past but I cannot remember when. There are eighteen very short dramas, each in a separate district in the city and each by a different director. But it was when the film visited "Tuileries" that I knew I had seen it before. Joel and Ethan Coen's segment only takes place on the platform of the metro station. The full list of the pieces is:

Montmartre

Quais De seine

Le Marais (director Gus Van Sant)

Tuileries (directors Joel and Ethan Coen)

Loin du 16e 

Porte de Choisy

Bastille

Place de Victoires (starring Juliette Binoch)

Tour Eiffel

Parc Monceau (director Alfonso Cuaron)

Quartier des Enfants Rouge (starring Maggie Gyllenhal) 

Place de Fetes

Pigalle (starring Bob Hoskins and Fanny Ardant)

Quartier de la Madeleine

Pere Lachaise (director Wes Craven)

Faubourg Saint-Denis (starring Natalie Portman)

Quartier Latin

14e arrondissement 

Then the montage at the end is spectacular. I love this film.