Lucky Jo and his three friends are little criminals, who try to live from small burglaries. But they never have luck - ever so often something inpredictable happens to Jo and gets one of them arrested. While Jo is in prison once again, they decide they'd better do without him in future. He decides to help them secretly...and unfortunately.
Eddie Constantine Pierre Brasseur Jean-Pierre Darras Françoise Arnoul Jean-Pierre Rambal Anouk Ferjac André Cellier Christiane Minazzoli Georges Wilson Christian Barbier Marcelle Ranson-Hervé Jean-Paul Cisife Pierre Asso Pierre Le Rumeur Jacques Echantillon Willy Braque Jean-Pierre Moutier Bernard Mongourdin Claude Brasseur Marcel Gassouk Paul Bonifas
Puhdasta jälkeä
France
Germany
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Japan
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Japan
Sweden
One of Eddie Constantine's better vehicles directed by Michel Deville early in his career. This has a very light touch without losing the French crime movie usual melancholia. Constantine is well served and Deville finds a few good situations in the standard criminal scenarios.
Série noire delight, shot like a strip with chases, fisticuffs (gotta love the huge snare drum sound of every single punch) and cheeky lines aplenty but a good deal of heart and fatality thrown in the mix too. Add in some fantastic Paris cinematography and you’ve got yourself a mean little gem right here.
Lucky Jo (Eddie Constantine) and his friends keep trying to pull off crimes and something always goes wrong landing one of them in jail. Jo gets out of jail and none of his friends wants to get involved with him and his cursed luck. All except Simon (Georges Wilson) who welcomes him warmly and loans him a car. The car is later taken and used in a bank holdup involving four men. Simon is now in trouble with the police and Jo is assumed to be one of the three remaining accomplices. The police at the direction of the commissaire (Pierre Brasseur) are after Jo, while Jo is attempting to clear Simon.
Directed by Michel Deville based on a novel…
Solid crime drama shot with panache in black and white on the streets of Paris. The thread of the plot holds it together nicely and there is more than enough humor to lighten the mood.
Michel Deville is uncategorisable and his filmography is not as well-known as it should be. So the first word that comes to my mind after having seen ´Lucky Jo´ is elegance. Elegance of the editing because each scene is related to the next by a reminder, metaphorical or not, elegance of the dialogs written by Nina Companéez who wrote nine screenplays for Deville and, at last, elegance of Eddie Constantine.
Man with a hat
Finally paid his dues.
But left with nothing to invest.
Dog gone afternoon
Comedia del film noir.
A brief word on Michel Deville, who I was introduced to by Dan Sallitt. Deville began making films just around the time of the explosion of the French New Wave, and he was very much part of the system and hated by Cahiers and the gang. But he’s been praised by people like David Thompson is apparently a big fan, and now Dan is, so I gave the two films he invited me to watch a spin. This is one of eleven films that Deville worked on with Nina Companéez, who was both his co-writer and his editor. Dan…
Fan fan fan des dialogues, du scénario (tellement mais tellement rocambolesque), des personnages, des acteurs (le duo Brasseur j’en rit encore) et des actrices (Françoise Arnoul magnifique), de la petite musique, du noir et blanc, des scènes de bagarres complètement orchestrées / dansées, … bref j’adoooooooore toujours autant le cinéma de Michel Deville
Mit Lucky Jo (Eddie Constantine) gehen die Raubüberfälle mit seinen drei kriminellen Freunde immer schief. Als er nach mehreren Jahren aus dem Gefängnis kommt, machen ihn seine Freunde für ihr Unglück verantwortlich.
SW-Krimi-Drama mit Komödien-Anteil von Michel Deville, der schon einige sehr ordentliche tragische Szenen hat, allerdings herrschte dazwischen nach heutigen Standard auch immer mal wieder Leerlauf.
Auf Basis einer 2K-Restaurierung, Länge 1:27:08.
55/100
portrait d’un criminel malchanceux
Appena uscito di prigione, Jo, un americano trapiantato a Parigi, si trova coinvolto suo malgrado in una spirale criminale che mette in pericolo i suoi antichi amici della malavita; farà di tutto per salvarli non rinunciando a qualche sana scazzottata e adottando una cocker che lo segue dovunque.
Grande noir che alterna riflessioni amare ad un'aria scanzonata con un impeccabile e simpaticamente canaglia Eddie Constantine poco prima di andare in missione ad Alphaville per conto di Godard.
Di Michel Deville consiglio anche Acque profonde del 1981 dal libro omonimo della Highsmith con Isabelle Huppert e Trintignant.
Classic French gangster cinema. A positive surprise! Doesn’t take itself too seriously (it is part comedy after all) but it also has a moving story and main character. Now if he could only ditch that ugly hat...
I've been watching old french movies lately, but this one didn't quite get me. Probably because I am not a huge fan of this genre mix, even though Jo was a great character. And the ending was fine little twister.
