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Touches You

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Excellent but underrated film

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Gabin once again takes the role of the confident man, Monsieur Max, who keeps many friends and as many girlfriends. I didn't know Dary, and he does a pretty good job of playing Riton, the less successful and probably partially jealous friend of Max. Of course Riton will royally screw up by boasting his heist to his girlfriend, so that she can tell her own lover that Riton and Max have 96kg of pure gold bars. The use of argot was very enjoyable, and so was the high number of scenes where these gangsters are casually drinking. It might have lacked of climax, but then is it really important? In the same league as Rififi chez des hommes. The theme song was surprisingly memorable. Many slower scenes (the dance scene, teethbrushing scene ("tu peux te laver les crochets")) added a nice touch to an overall very pleasant cinematic experience.

I feel so inadequate even attempting to discuss this movie. But I'll give it a try. For those who haven't seen Touchez pas au grisbi, it's the story of an aging gangster named Max (played to perfection by Jean Gabin). With the help of his partner Riton (also played to perfection by René Dary), Max has just pulled off the biggest caper of his career and is now set to retire. But a few of the other local thugs have other ideas. They kidnap Riton and offer to a trade him for the loot.While that may be the five sentence review of the plot's highlights, the robbery and subsequent kidnapping are hardly what the movie is all about. These are merely devices to push the plot along. Instead, Touchez pas au grisbi is about the never ending friendship between two people. It's about willing to forfeit a fortune if it means saving your best friend. It's about their day-to-day lives, the nightclubs they visit, the women they use, and, in one of the more bizarre moments, even their dental hygiene habits. While it hardly sounds glamorous, it's one of the more compelling movies I've seen recently. Max's life pulled me in to the point that it almost seemed real. Director Jacques Becker lets the viewer really get to know these two guys so that later on when the pair finds themselves in danger, we feel for them.Touchez pas au grisbi may not be action-packed, but when the violence does come, it's jolting in its abruptness. While the shootout near the end of the film is an obvious example, there's a moment earlier on in the movie that shows how abrupt and effective the violence in Touchez pas au grisbi is. Max has located Riton's girlfriend who he believes to be at least partially responsible for Riton's kidnapping. Up to this point, with a few very minor and brief exceptions, Max has hardly seemed capable of excessive violence. Up to this point, he's come across almost as a kindly Grandfather. But when Max confronts the girlfriend, we see what he is capable of. The rough manner in which he handles everyone in the room, including repeatedly slapping the girl to get the information he's after, is quite shocking. It's a scene that's very nicely done.In the end, Touchez pas au grisbi is a true masterpiece that deserves all the accolades it has received. I know it's one of the best movies I've ever seen.

"Touchez pas au grisbi" begins somewhat in media res, in that the defining moment that leads to the rest of the story--the theft of the grisbi (loot)--happens before the cameras even begin running. This is a film not really about the events that take place within the narrative, but the moments that define the characters between those events: the mobsters brushing their teeth, sitting and eating, discussing their lives.Jean Gabin stars as another aged, ennui-filled mobster, this time a little older and a little more tired than ol' Pepe le Moko. Everything in his role is pure class... a man tired of the fast and frivolous days and just wanting to retire to a quiet life with a woman who's not a showgirl. Unfortunately the blunderous activities of his partner-in-crime keep him trapped in the usual gangster world of deceit, double-crossings, and danger.This movie fits closely to Becker's attempt to create a film "without a beginning or an end, and with little plot in between." Most of the character development in this movie is implied, though very well. A sense of fullness, and history, of experience pervades every character in this movie as if this were the third Godfather movie or some piece of a serial about people the audience knows well, however most of these characters are pretty much introduced at random and leave just as readily. Most of what works within this film is the quieter moments when the characters are left to be themselves, not what others demand in them.This movie has been called very influential, but it's not without its own influences. As stated above, Gabin's performance is somewhat related to the fatigued gangster of such films as "Pepe le Moko", and it's not without its moments of film noir style lighting.Another hugely influential part of this movie is its score, which is actually very minimalistic and reserved. Max's favorite song, the one he plays on the jukebox, is played in pieces throughout most of the movie and most of the time during a moment when Max loses control of the events currently surrounding him. It's a mournful, nostalgic tune... and I also can't help but think that it has to be in some way an inspiration to the Godfather movie score.--PolarisDiB

"Grisbi" is a true classic...... Highly influential French noir/crime thriller/drama....shamefully obscure & undeservedly overlooked until now...Criterion DVD finally released in January....actually kinda ruined my evening..I had planned on watching another movie after this one..but I didn't want to let this one out of my head yet,..it was that good. 1954 Paris sparkles in glorious black & white..Jean Gabin & the whole cast, including a very young & relatively unknown Jeanne Moreau, is wonderful..Jacque Becker's direction is impeccable. The great Jean Gabin stars as Max , an aging gangster, who, along with his longtime friend & partner , Riton , has pulled one last job and intends to retire as soon as it's safe to cash in the millions in gold bullion they have stolen. Max is an anachronism...his style, moral code, honor & ways are caught up in changing times...a theme that fans of some of the best American Westerns will recognize in this film...It'a an absorbing , character-driven story...leading to a lonely highway with guns drawn ..trying to keep from losing everything. Highly recommended.