Sunday, March 25, 2018
449 - Attention Bandits!, France, 1986. Dir. Claude Lelouch.
If he loves his wife more than the jewels, then we're in business.
The kidnapper has it figured out. Kidnap the wife. If the man loves his wife more than the jewels, then he will give you the jewels. Every good man loves his wife more than jewels.
Today is Monday, November 15, 1976.
Jean Gabin has died today.
Jean Gabin is the great movie star of France. The Humphrey Bogart of France. A man who has played many roles and many types of roles, but who is known among other things as the prototypical gangster.
The good man is Simon Verini. He is a good man in that he loves his wife and daughter. And he loves his wife more than the jewels.
He is not good in that he himself is a bandit. A gangster.
But at least he loves his family.
When he hears the news of Gabin's death, he exclaims, "Without Gabin, gangster films are done." Maybe they are not. He had no idea he is about to get caught up in one.
Verini is spending time with his wife and daughter at the country estate. He is teaching them to fish. His daughter, Marie-Sophie, is 11.
Mozart comes to call. No, not Amadeus. But a young gangster who pretentiously pretends to be someone else to get Verini to come to him. He states his business openly. He has chutzpah.
Verini agrees to fence some jewels stolen from Cartier.
He has no idea that he will be double-crossed.
He receives the jewels. He begins to do the work to separate them and find places to sell them on the black market.
Then they kidnap his wife.
He loves his wife more than the jewels, so he turns over the jewels.
But after they retrieve the jewels, they kill his wife. And frame him for the murder.
That rat-faced Mozart. Verini is going to kill him. Cue the Requiem. In D minor.
Verini is arrested. Tried. Sentenced. Sent to jail. He vows revenge.
He places his daughter Marie-Sophie in a posh Swiss boarding school. The two carry on a decade-long relationship of correspondence. They are pen pals. And his love for his daughter only grows stronger.
When he is released, he reunites with his daughter. He plots his revenge. She seeks to dissuade him.
He has done his time. He is now clean in the sight of the law. He can live the rest of his life without drama or incident.
And the twenty-one-year-old Marie-Sophie and her father Simon Verini can enjoy one another's company for years to come.
Either that or he can pursue revenge and start his problems all over again.
Which decision do you think he will make?
Wait. There is more. A love triangle.
Marie-Sophie is engaged to a Swiss equestrian. Met at boarding school.
And the other man who loves her is none other than--
Mozart.
Cue The Marriage of Figaro.
* * * * *
So far we have seen Jean Gabin six times.
The Lower Depths (1936)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/02/059-lower-depths-1936-france-dir-jean.html
Grand Illusion (1937)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/061-grand-illusion-1937-france-dir-jean.html
Pepe le Moko (1937)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/075-pepe-le-moko-1937-france-dir-julien.html
The Human Beast (1938)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/062-human-beast-la-bete-humaine-1938.html
French Cancan (1955)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/03/066-french-cancan-1955-france-dir-jean.html
Consider All Risks (Classe tous Risques) (1960)
http://realbillbillions.blogspot.com/2017/05/128-consider-all-risks-classe-tous.html
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