Ashes and Diamonds (1958)

Director: Andrzej Wajda
Country: Poland

After many years of procrastination I finally saw "Ashes and Diamonds", a political, historical and important European film worshipped by some of the most important filmmakers in America such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. 

This is not an easy film to digest, it is very dense in its own structure, it has many dialogues and the main conflict of the story can be forgotten easily through the film which focuses more in the romantic and political context of the story than in the investigation of the murder of the innocent civilians who died at the beginning, on the other hand if you are studying to become a cinematographer or a professional photographer this is a film you need to see, because it was beautifully shot, it is full of noir textures: chiaroscuros, smoke and shadows, but especially one shot that attracted my attention was the scene filmed inside the destroyed church when we can see a Christ turn upside down due to the bombings, it was a maverick movement by Wajda because that single scene could have been considered subversive by the communist. 

This is a great film but in my humble opinion it could have been better, many scenes are useless, some dialogues are unnecesary and I never felt the romantic chemistry between the characters, perhaps this is a film one needs to review after a long, long time.

Classe Tous Risques (1960)

Director: Claude Sautet
Country: France

A ruined criminal looking for help is trying to escape with his family and children from Milan to Paris after many years of criminal activities but a death sentence is waiting for him. Lino Ventura is Abel Davos, a cold-blooded crook, a decaying mafioso, but a tough mothefucker who once was a respected guy in the underworld, and a kind of "godfather" for some of his friends who now disrespect him, and this film is precisely about respect, loyalty, honor, friendship and betrayal and by no means idealistic gangster bullshit. 

We can see the human side of Abel Davos as a father, a husband a friend and struggling moments in his life which make him think he's a kind of King Midas in reverse. A young Jean-Paul Belmondo as Eric Stark in the pivotal role is very solid too, not to mention Sandra Milo (Eric's girlfriend) was stunning and gorgeous at the time. 

The film was adapted from a novel by Jose Giovanni (an auteur, a great writer who also wrote works like "Le Trou" and "Le Deuxiemme Souffle", which later became cinema masterpieces), Sautet made a great job, basically he just needed a car, two main characters and some pistols to make a great storyline, he also made a precise usage of the voice over, the silence, the dialogue, the editing and some shots from the car's point of view. 

These kind of films were the foundation for future crime films (like those of Jean-Pierre Melville) and we can see how iconic characters in American TV Series like The Sopranos were influenced by all those French crime-noir films as well, Classe Tous Risques is unfortunately an underrated masterpiece.

                                  

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.

                             

The Treasure Of The Sierra Madre (1948)

Director: John Huston
Country: United States 

"These burros have a long road ahead of them!"

This is a treasure I discovered thanks to Mr. William Friedkin, (and I will always be grateful to him for that), a combination between film noir and western, resulting in a simply beautiful work. "Sierra Madre" is one of the most complete films I ever seen and a magnificent adventure through Mexico with unexpected consequences. 

 

Walter Huston, Humphrey Bogard and Tim Holt did excellent performances, creating the perfect chemistry and atmosphere to build a story in which greed and corruption rules the world, or at least theirs, John Huston did a superb directorial work too, writing a great screenplay by himself, choosing the perfect actors (including his own father) and locations in Mexico and hiring one of the best composers of all time: Max Steiner, who was already famous for his work in "King Kong" (1933), "The Oklahoma Kid" (1939), "Gone With The Wind" (1939), "Casablanca" (1942), among many others. 

 

I recommend you to buy some cervezas, turn off the lights, turn up the sound and be ready to see the greatest movie ever made about greed and...burros.

                             

Le Doulos (1962)

Director: Jean Pierre-Melville
Country: France

Bleak, twisted, beautiful and intriguing, Melville's "Le Doulos" is a superb work in many departments: camera, cinematography, plot, acting and synonym of film noir, in its sub-genre of informants or as some people colloquially say, rats. 

I absolutely loved this film from the first shot, even when I'm not a big fan of Jean-Paul Belmondo, his performance here is unique, plus the cinematography is astonishing and I'm pretty sure it influenced neo-noir movies like "Blade Runner", "Blue Steel" and many more, but to be honest, I had to see it twice, 'cause it contains a very dense plot, full of intrigue and names, which can easily confuse the viewer, other than that, this is a highly recommended work.

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