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''Borsalino'' is a 1970 French
gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
film directed by
Jacques Deray Jacques Deray (born Jacques Desrayaud; 19 February 1929 – 9 August 2003) was a French film director and screenwriter. Deray is prominently known for directing many crime and thriller films. Biography Born Jacques Desrayaud in Lyon, France, in ...
and starring
Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
,
Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
and
Catherine Rouvel Catherine Rouvel (born Catherine Vitale; 31 August 1939 in Marseille) is an acclaimed French actress. Her career spans from 1959 in television to 2004. She starred in Jean Renoir's ''Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe'', Marcel Carné's '' Les Assassins d ...
. It was entered into the 20th Berlin International Film Festival. In 2009, ''
Empire An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' named it No. 19 in a poll of "The 20 Greatest Gangster Movies You've Never Seen… Probably". A sequel, '' Borsalino & Co.'', was released in 1974 with Alain Delon in the leading role. The film is based on real-life gangsters
Paul Carbone Paul Bonnaventure Carbone (1 February 1894 – 16 December 1943) was a Corsican criminal involved in the Marseille underworld from the 1920s until his death in 1943. He was known as the ''Emperor of Marseille''. Associated with François Spiri ...
and François Spirito, who collaborated with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
during the
occupation of France The Military Administration in France (german: Militärverwaltung in Frankreich; french: Occupation de la France par l'Allemagne) was an interim occupation authority established by Nazi Germany during World War II to administer the occupied zo ...
in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
(though this is not mentioned in the film).


Plot

In 1930, in
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
, a gangster named Siffredi is released from prison and searches for his former girlfriend, Lola. He finds her with Capella, another gangster. The two men fight over her but become friendly and form a partnership, fixing horseraces and prizefights. They are contacted by Rinaldi, a lawyer who works for Marello and Poli, the two crime bosses who control all the organized crime in Marseille. Rinaldi suggests that Siffredi and Capella should seize control of Marseille's fish market and take it away from Marello. They succeed but they become too ambitious and try to take control of the meat market which is controlled by Poli. He tries to have Capella and Siffredi killed but they succeed in killing him instead. Rinaldi is killed by another gangster named The Dancer. Capella and Siffredi establish themselves as the new bosses of Marseille's underworld. Capella decides to leave Marseille but is killed by an assassin. Siffredi then decides to leave Marseille himself.


Cast

*
Jean-Paul Belmondo Jean-Paul Charles Belmondo (; 9 April 19336 September 2021) was a French actor and producer. Initially associated with the New Wave of the 1960s, he was a major French film star for several decades from the 1960s onward. His best known credits ...
– François Capella *
Alain Delon Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
– Roch Siffredi *
Arnoldo Foà Arnoldo Foà (24 January 1916 – 11 January 2014) was an Italian actor, voice actor, theatre director, singer and writer. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 2014. Biography Foà was born in Ferrara, Italy, to a Jewish fam ...
– Marello *
Catherine Rouvel Catherine Rouvel (born Catherine Vitale; 31 August 1939 in Marseille) is an acclaimed French actress. Her career spans from 1959 in television to 2004. She starred in Jean Renoir's ''Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe'', Marcel Carné's '' Les Assassins d ...
– Lola * Françoise Christophe – Simone Escarguel *
Corinne Marchand Corinne Marchand (born 4 December 1931 in Paris) is a French actress. She is best known for playing the pop singer Cléo in ''Cléo from 5 to 7 ''Cléo from 5 to 7'' (french: Cléo de 5 à 7 ) is a 1962 French New Wave film written and dire ...
– Mme Rinaldi *
Laura Adani Laura Adani (7 October 1913 – 30 August 1996) was an Italian actress. She appeared in 13 films between 1933 and 1980. She was born in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy and died in Moncalieri, Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note ...
– Mme Siffredi, la mère de Roch *
Nicole Calfan Nicole Calfan (born 4 March 1947) is a French actress and author. Filmography Theater Author References External links * 1947 births Living people Actresses from Paris French film actresses French television actresses Frenc ...
– Ginette *
Hélène Rémy Hélène Rémy (born 1932) is a retired French film actress. She spent much of her career working in the Italian film industry.Curti p.62 Selected filmography * '' Cage of Girls'' (1949) * '' Sending of Flowers'' (1950) * '' Clara de Montargis'' ...
– Lydia *
Odette Piquet Odette may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Odette'' (play), an 1881 play by Victorien Sardou ** ''Odette'' (1916 film), an Italian silent drama film based on the Sardou play ** ''Odette'' (1928 film), a German silent drama film based on t ...
– La chanteuse * Mario David – Mario *
Lionel Vitrant __TOC__ Lionel may refer to: Name *Lionel (given name) Places *Lionel, Lewis, a village in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland *Lionel Town, Jamaica, a settlement Brands and enterprises *Lionel, LLC, an American designer and importer of toy trains and mo ...
– Fernand * Dennis Berry – Nono * Jean Aron – Martial Roger, le compatible * André Bollet – Poli * Pierre Koulak – Spada


Production


Development

Alain Delon wanted to produce the film because he was looking for a project in which to collaborate with Jean-Paul Belmondo. He found the story of Carbone and Spirito in a crime book he was reading about French gangsters from 1900 to 1970. Originally the film was going to be called ''Carbone and Spirito'', but after there were objections about using the names of real gangsters, the characters were fictionalized and the idea was dropped. Alain Delon said he wanted something like '' Vera Cruz'' because the title would not have to be translated all around the world. Eventually, the title was taken from the famous
Borsalino Borsalino is the oldest Italian company specializing in the manufacture of luxury hats. Since 1857, the manufacture has been based in Alessandria, Piedmont. The founder, Giuseppe Borsalino, is remembered for creating a particular model of felt ...
company which had been making
fedora A fedora () is a hat with a soft brim and indented crown.Kilgour, Ruth Edwards (1958). ''A Pageant of Hats Ancient and Modern''. R. M. McBride Company. It is typically creased lengthwise down the crown and "pinched" near the front on both side ...
-style hats since the late 19th century. Its golden age was between the 1920s and 1940s, which is within the film's time frame. As a consequence of the movie, there was revival in the popularity of Borsalino fedora hats.


Casting

Despite Delon's desire to work with Belmondo, the relationship between the pair broke down after filming was completed. Director Jacques Deray noted that, "All through production Delon was impeccable, never interfered. But when the film was completed "Delon the producer" stepped in and took it over." Delon said while promoting the film in the US:
We are still what you in America call pals or buddies. But we are not friends. There is a difference. He was my guest in the film but still he complained. I like him as an actor but as a person, he's a bit different. I think his reaction was a stupid reaction... almost like a female reaction. But I don't want to talk about him anymore.
Delon's associate producer, Pierre Caro, said:
If you ask me, I think Belmondo was afraid from the first to make a picture with Alain. He demanded the same number of close ups. Alain had to cancel a lot of his best scenes because they made him look better than Belmondo. My own feeling is that they will never work together again. Alain says they will but he lies.
Under the terms of their contracts, Belmondo and Delon were required to have the same number of close-ups, which prompted Delon to dye his hair black for his role. Belmondo later sued Delon in court over the manner in which their names were billed in the production. Belmondo was annoyed that the title card "an Alain Delon Production" appeared before his name in the credits.


Filming

The film was shot on location in and around Marseille, France. Interiors were completed in Paris. The film remains one of the most expensive French films ever made. Finance mostly came from
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
.


Reception

The film was a large success at the French box office, breaking records throughout the country. It had admissions in France of 4,710,381. This made it the fourth most watched film of the year, after ''
The Gendarme Takes Off ''The gendarme to stroll'' (french: Le gendarme en balade) is the fourth instalment of the gendarme series starring Louis de Funès and also known as "The Gendarme Takes Off" and "The Troops on Vacation". It is followed by two more films: ''Le gen ...
'', ''
Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticip ...
'', and ''
Rider on the Rain ''Rider on the Rain'' (French: ''Le passager de la pluie'') is a 1970 French mystery thriller film starring Marlène Jobert and Charles Bronson, directed by René Clément and scripted by Sébastien Japrisot, produced by Serge Silberman, with f ...
''. It was followed by '' The Red Circle'', '' MASH'', '' Once Upon a Time in the West'', ''
The Things of Life ''The Things of Life'' (french: Les Choses de la vie) is a 1970 romantic drama film directed by Claude Sautet, based on the 1967 novel ''Intersection'' by Paul Guimard. The film centers around a car accident experienced by Pierre (Michel Piccoli) ...
'', ''
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, known as Butch C ...
'', '' Donkey Skin'' and '' The Damned''. The film was also very popular elsewhere in Europe, but did not break through in the US the way the filmmakers hoped. While it was released the Marković affair was still being heavily publicised, adding to the film's notoriety. ''Variety'' said "problem is that pic is more a vehicle for its stars' personalities than a more cogent insight into French pre-war organized gangsters." ''Time Out'' remarked it was "fairly basic as a gangster pastiche ...but not unenjoyable thanks to its loudly stressed period detail and Claude Bolling's jolly score for mechanical piano."


References


External links

*
''Borsalino''
at Le Film Guide
Review of film
at ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
''Borsalino''
at
TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...
{{Jacques Deray 1970 films 1970s buddy comedy films 1970s crime comedy films Films about organized crime in France Films directed by Jacques Deray Films produced by Alain Delon Films set in 1930 Films set in Marseille Films shot in Marseille Films shot in Paris French crime comedy films 1970s French-language films French gangster films Italian gangster films Italian buddy comedy films Italian crime comedy films Films with screenplays by Jean-Claude Carrière 1970 comedy films Films scored by Claude Bolling 1970s Italian films 1970s French films