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Overrated

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There is much to say about this movie. But who has time to read reviews nowadays? First of all, Jose Giovanni, director and screenwriter, is an expert of the genre, he himself was a convict. There, in prison, he wrote some novels, which were then screened. This is one of them. The distribution is of great caliber: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Michel Constantin and Claudia Cardinale, three sacred monsters, all three gorgeous. All the other actors are natural and credible. Among them, a very young and very supple Gerard Depardieu. Francois de Roubaix's music is high-class, as usual. This is how to write a review, short and on the subject, not retell the action of the movie, as many are doing...

With these words by an old organ-grinder, the film (German title "Der Mann aus Marseille") ends.. and leaves me wondering. What was that? Twelve years (of which six in prison) in the life of a "gentleman gangster" in Southern France? Belmondo sure acts the role, somewhat charmingly. But even though he has most screen time, neither his background nor his character development are made very plausible. We learn he is a loyal friend, has useful friends, can shoot well (but always after the foe had shot first), and looks good. Claudia Cardinale just looks good here, and doesn't have much else to do or say. The part of Xavier I found the most interesting and touching.Was this designed to be a (very short) TV mini series as well? Freeze-frames between episodes gave me that idea, but at, say, four episodes of 25 minutes it couldn't have been such a Big Thing either.Plot-wise, it packs a lot: gang war, courtroom, gang war, prison life, WW2, mine-sweeping (which I found most fascinating), and back to gang war. But in the given playtime, none of those were lingered on much, and left me a not very deep impression.Plus point: the French was spoken very clearly (while in La grande illusion yesterday I hardly understood a word :^), so it's good for language learners. Also, the discussions about handicapped (Freddy had lost his legs, Xavier his left arm) was interesting. Also, in a minor role (Un homme de main / Burglar), a rather young Gerard Depardieu.

That 's what the title means ,and it's the hero's nickname.Fact: in 1960,Jacques Becker released his final masterpiece "Le Trou" ,the screenplay of which was written by Jose Giovanni;the following year,after his father's death ,Jean Becker made his first effort "Un Nommé La Rocca" based on another Giovanni's screenplay."La Scoumoune" is a remake of "Un Nommé La Rocca".Giovanni uses his own screenplay.The differences between the two movies are minimal,the early version being perhaps more realistic in the prison scenes (Giovanni spent some time in jail and he knew what he was talking about).Belmondo stars in both.The ending is slightly modified.Highlights remain the scenes on the beach."La Scoumoune" was highly successful ,because Belmondo had become huge and his co-star Claudia Cardinale was also much more famous than Christine Kaufman ,the starlet of the late fifties /early sixties sword and sandal flicks .

I never read the book that this movie is based on, but I suspect it contains the plot details which the movie just supplies on a whim, if at all. As a matter of fact, the movie just feels like a compilation of the book's every second chapter's climax. You'd might think this skipstone structure a major flaw, but strangely enough, you'd be wrong. This flick is a delight --the rap-atap cadence of perfunctory set-ups and upsets thrilled me to the bone. Of all of Belmondo's French gangster pictures, this is the one he should be remembered for.