Topkapi (1964)

3/5

Jules Dassin's comedy caper Topkapi has as many problems as it does successes. It was enjoyable enough half the time, but frustratingly inadequate the other half. There is an impressive symmetry to the film; it seems that for every positive there is an equal and opposite negative to counterbalance it. If the concept weren't so illogical, I'd say the director had planned it.

The best part of this movie, as with any Dassin film, is its ending. There is not a single misstep in the 20-minute heist sequence; the audience feels the anxiety and tension the characters are experiencing and cannot look away. Coincidentally, the worst part of this movie is its beginning. The film starts with a 10-minute hallucinatory "explanation" of the protagonist's motivation in an unintelligible foreign accent. It must have turned away untold multitudes of previously interested filmgoers. While the dialogue and characters were amusing, the accents and music were annoying. The promising build-up to the climax was disrupted by a bizarre and wholly unnecessary homoerotic oiled wrestling orgy. (It is so difficult to grab onto a shirtless oiled wrestler, it seems, that most end up shoving their hands down the other contestants' pants just to be able to grip onto something.) Still, most of the negatives are unintentionally humorous in their own way and can be used as excuses to further enjoy the movie; so if you're interested in heist movies, check this one out.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0058672/

Rififi (1955)

4/5

Unlike Dassin's previous film Night and the City, Rififi is a crime movie and not a film noir. It has many noir elements that work in synchrony so well, but what makes this movie stand out is its 30 minute long heist scene with neither dialogue nor music. It is 30 minutes of pure, nail-biting tension. This single scene inspired all future heist scenes. The cinematography and editing was miles ahead of Night and the City, thankfully. The characters were fascinatingly unique. Dassin has somehow perfected the art of cinematic finales. He has complete control over you; you can't blink or turn away for a second.

There really aren't that many negatives. Personally I liked Night and the City more, but that is probably just because film noir is my favorite genre. Some characters were left behind and ignored. Some background stories were alluded to but never fleshed out, which just made it confusing. But seriously, these are extremely small qualms. If you add the attention-grabbing introduction to the thrilling heist scene and the captivating finale, what you have is a movie that is impossible to lose interest in from start to finish.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0048021/

Night and the City (1950)

4/5

Night and the City is a thrilling film noir, with an especially tense finale. All the main characters get what's coming to them in proper noir fashion. There were some sensationally powerful moments and some surprisingly emotional ones. The plot/content was perfectly, precisely, definitively noir and nothing else. It was mesmerizing to watch the world this man had worked to build through theft and deceit and sleaze slowly crumble around him. All the pieces literally fell into place to create one of the saddest noir endings I've seen.

It takes a little while to get into the rhythm of the piece. The cinematography was either out of place or just plain ugly the entire time, except for the extremely well-done chase at the end. The editing was also bizarre. The wrestling scene near the end, while gripping, was an example of poor cinematography and worse editing. The characters, while unique and well-formed when taken in the context of noir, are a little too unique for my tastes--it takes a while to get used to them. I especially couldn't stand the main character's laugh. The dialogue is bland except for two extremely well-done lines. Their rarity perhaps make them feel more precious and meaningful than they are. I forget one of them already, but here is the other.

--You don't know what you're getting into.
--I know what I'm getting out of.

IMDb link: http://imdb.com/title/tt0042788/