La Scoumoune

When Jean-Paul Belmondo's Roberto Borgo sits down in the middle of the room on a chair and leans forward with his hands resting on his knees, it doesn't mean he's tired. It means you're out of luck. You've got him stuck to your heels, with his lifeline in the shape of a circle, and to make matters worse, there's a guardian angel behind him with a barrel organ. A freestyle gangster film, woven with strong threads of friendship and the tragicomedy of fate for those who, from their side of the law, are closer to a prison cell or a mortuary tent. The unrestrained concept is complemented by music that oscillates between brilliance (minimalism during a fierce shootout with a Black gang) and a touch of the Humberto Circus. The Americans had Eddie Bunker; the French had José Giovanni. Both brought their own experiences into it, focusing on characters who didn't attend Yale or the Sorbonne, and never judged their actions. (05/06/2024)

La scoumoune is full of plot twists. At first glance, it looks like a crime movie only for things to end up in jail in the second half. But it still isn’t completely over. Another strange thing here is that Belmondo keeps a straight face but at the same time does the crazy shenanigans we know him to do. I stopped taking this film seriously at the moment when he stuck a peg up one of the guards’ ass during a jail scuffle. (12/10/2014)