The Killing (1956)

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Country: United States

Maybe this was the first heist movie I saw, and since then I became fascinated with this sub-genre; full of great dialogues, a first class acting by Sterling Hayden, a superb cinematography work by Lucien Ballard (who also worked in Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch), and a powerful score by Gerald Fried which enriches the story.

"The Killing" is super entertaining, Kubrick orchestrated every frame, dialogue and scene perfectly, he already was a master of filmmaking at the time without a doubt and unlike many other American films of the same genre which haven't aged so well, "The Killing" stills looking fresh to some extent after 60 years! 

The lighting is beautiful and scenes such as the one taking action in the Chess Club, when "Johnny" meets "Maurice" (the bald guy in the chess club with a thick accent), played by Kola Kwariani, Georgian and a real life former wrestler and professional chess player at the time or the racetrack robbery whole sequence, which is very suspensful, are really unique.

The last time I saw this film was in a public library, I'd already seen it when I was a teenager, but the images weren't fresh in my mind, so I decided to go to the projection and it was a great experience and completely different from the typical cinema screenings, people sitting around watching the film respectfully and quietly, I loved it , The Killing is my favorite Kubrick's black and white.