Overview: Two years before The Godfather and three years before The Sting, there was Borsalino, a wildly entertaining period-set gangster movie that brought together two icons of French cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo (Breathless) and Alain Delon (Le Samourai).

Marseilles, 1930: small-time gangster Roch Siffredi (Delon) is released from prison and finds his former girlfriend Lola (Catherine Rouvel, Picnic on the Grass) has moved on and is now with Francois Capella (Belmondo), another petty crook. Initially at odds, the two men form a partnership that will see them rise through the ranks of organized crime in Marseilles. But how far will they go in their pursuit of power and what price will they be forced to pay?

Directed by Jacques Deray (La Piscine), written by Jean-Claude Carriere (Belle Du Jour), with a score by French Jazz pianist Claude Bolling, and costumes by Jacques Fonteray (Barbarella), Borsalino is a Gallic gangster classic!

Blu-ray Verdict: This may not be the best of Jacques Deray’s nine collaborations with Alain Delon, but it is certainly the most commercially successful. Delon maintained that Deray was the director with whom he had the greatest affinity which is praise indeed considering his sterling work for such luminaries as Visconti, Melville, Verneuil and Clément!

Based upon Scammano’s novel Bandits at Marseilles - about real life gangsters Carbone and Spirito, whose names have naturally been changed - this is essentially a vehicle for Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo; who were both at the height of their popularity and in their physical prime at the time. The pairing proved to be a masterstroke as both actors possess charisma in spades whilst Delon’s measured coolness is balanced by Belmondo’s easy-going amiability.

Set in 1930’s Marseilles, this has excellent period detail, a catchy if somewhat repetitious theme by Claude Bolling, female interest in the shape of elegant Francoise Christophe, mysterious Corinne Marchand and delectable Catherine Rouvel and as a bonus we have the always good value Michel Bouquet as a shady lawyer.

There is plenty of mucho-macho posturing on display, of course, and corpses galore with a shootout set in an abattoir that will have assorted veggies and vegans foaming at the mouth! The imaginative ways in which various low-lives are bumped off pre-date The Godfather, although Deray’s film lacks the psychological depth of Coppola’s masterpiece.

It has also been made known that Deray was said to be influenced by Melville, but overall, Borsalino lacks that director’s existentialist feel. However, and what is certain, is that Deray made his mark in the thriller genre, which he considered to be spectacle of the higher order, and that this French-Italian gangster movie Borsalino is a mighty fine example of such action movies made in the 60s and 70s.

Special Features:
High definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation
Original lossless mono French and English audio options
Optional English subtitles
New audio commentary by film scholar Josh Nelson
The Music of Borsalino, a new interview with composer and film historian Neil Brand on Claude Bolling’s score
Dressing Down, a new interview with film scholar Elizabeth Castaldo Lundén on Jacques Fonteray’s costume designs for Borsalino
Le Magnifique Belmondo, an archive extra celebrating the unique talent and career of the beloved French actor
Theatrical trailer
Image gallery
Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Ginette Vincendeau and an archival piece by Elisa Fulco
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
Double-sided poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella
Six postcard-sized reproduction artcards

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