Also known as Du rififi chez les hommes, Rififi was the model for heist films such as Heat and Ocean’s Eleven. It was directed with impeccable style by Jules Dassin, an American born filmmaker (and one time assistant to Alfred Hitchcock), who was blacklisted from Hollywood and turned to Europe, where he had a successful career with Rififi his most acclaimed and popular work.

Jean Servais stars as Tony the Stephanois, a jewel thief who has just done five years in prison. Servais plays the Stephanois as a mean, merciless, and cold cat, even more so than his American film-noir counterpart, Humphrey Bogart.

Tony aggress to be apart of a heist on a swank jewellery store, pieced together by his close friend Jo (Brando look alike Carl Mohner) and Mario (Robert Manuel). The plan originally was to smash in the front window and make away with a few precious stones. But Tony has bigger ideas: he wants to break in and go for the safe, where it is estimated that 200 million dollars worth of jewels is stored.

A safe cracker from Madrid named Cesar (played by Dassin) is brought in, and the heist is meticulously planned. A stumbling block is found in a hi-tech, motion activated alarm system which is all that stands in the way of a huge payday. Naturally, the boys find a way around it, which leads to a breathtaking heist sequence where all sound – save for the occasional grunt, chipping of concrete and safe cracking – is shunned aside. Dassin has stated that he wanted to make the sequence feel as real as possible, and boy does it work.

With the jewels in their possession everything seems peachy, until a local heavy (Pierre Grasset) and boyfriend of Tony’s wife (Marie Sabouret), is clued in on their triumphant robbery and decides he wants the take for himself. Cue an intense standoff between both camps.

Rififi is a thrilling watch. It is violent, but not gratuitous in its violence, and it holds an emotional edge which its stateside film-noir/crime counterparts could not match. Also of high value is the films technical proficiency, especially its sharp photography by Philippe Agostin.

A remake is supposedly in development starring Al Pacino, and it is hard to imagine how they could match the visceral impact that this film had. There is only one Rififi, and he is trouble.