French Noir Fest at Film Forum

Bruce Goldstein's exploration of French crime and suspense dramas continues this summer with a series that kicks off with the famous heist movie Rififi (August 8/9). But that's not even the high point of the festival, as far as I'm concerned.

I haven't seen all of the offerings, but out of the ones I've seen, I'd say the must-sees are the double bill Le doulos/Classe tous risques (August 24/25) and The Wages of Fear (September 4), which remains the all-time greatest movie about driving truckloads of nitroglycerine on bumpy roads. And there's also Le Cercle rouge (August 15/16), Bob le flambeur (pictured, August 17/18, on a double bill with Touchez pas au grisbi), Eyes Without a Face (August 27, on a double bill with Diabolique), and the double bills Breathless/Band of Outsiders (August 31/September 1) and Quai des Orfèvres/Pépé le Moko (September 3/4).

The whole series seems to be very strong. I'm not sure that any of them rate less than an isolated 6.7 on IMDB. Out of what I haven't seen, the ones with the highest IMDB ratings are the charmingly titled We Are All Murderers (8.2, on a double bill with Riptide on August 18) and Casque d'or (8.0, on a double bill with Goupi mains rouges on September 2).

Here are three or four amazing clips from The Wages of Fear. If you haven't seen it, think twice before seeing anything after the first clip. Spoilers, you know.



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