Pasha (1968)

It's probably the movie I have the most seen in my entire life. The first time was in 1972, a Sunday evening, on the first channel. I was only nine years old, and was astonished at this time. Since then, I have never missed any of the airing of this french masterpiece. First, the armored truck heist of the beginning, somewhere in the north of France countryside, with the Serge Gainsbourg soundtrack (Requiem pour un con)is absolutely terrific. I consider it as the most outstanding armored truck attack of the whole crime movie industry. And I am a specialist for this kind of topic - see my other comments. I guess many other film makers were inspired by this sequence. Olivuer Marchall, for 36, Quai des Orfèvres, confessed he was. And Andre Pousse, as Quinquin, the ruthless killer, is also here brilliant at the most. I say he gives in this feature his best performance ever. Unforgettable. When he kills Dany Carrel, It's so good, because you don't expect this. Or this other scene, just after he has killed on of his accomplices with his wife, he quietly checks the horse race tickets while looking for the results on the TV. And concerning one point which has not been told about by the other users, is the police settings. We see a very modern police headquarters, with computers, and the film was made in 1968...Even three decades later, the Quai des Orfèvres - the actual french police headquarters - so know all around the world - was not like this. So nothing is really realistic in this film. Nothing to do with the new french crime movies à la Olivier Marchall. I won't talk about the Alpine Renault used by the police officer, with Jean Gabin sitting in it !!!Yes folks, this is a must see film for those who have missed it.

The movie is an unanticipated gem! I was expecting something of a hybrid between A. Delon's "Un Flic" and "Le Samouraï", but this one is fast paced and stylish. I enjoyed the inserts with "hippies" dancing and The Serge cameo, both lending some documentary feel to the movie. It is also one for a fan of coolest mid-century period, with characters carved out of the 40ies b&w gangster movies. Gabin's character is funny, policemen are efficient and gangsters dull-n-dumb: feels good. Music is an added bonus, especially if you pay attention to the words of the song that Serge sings: nice refrain to the plot. In short, great contemporary mix, very entertaining and a bit touching.

This was another Jean Gabin vehicle which often turned up on Italian TV; having decided to check it out, I'm glad I did because it's a pretty good policier! Despite his advancing age, the star is wholly believable as the dogged Police Commissioner (the "Pacha" of the title) - out to avenge his childhood, albeit shady, friend - who's also something of an amiable curmudgeon. The film features an elaborate daylight robbery sequence - after which one member of the gang eliminates all his associates in order to keep the loot for himself (one of them is pushed inside his car onto thin ice which naturally breaks and engulfs him)! - and is fast-paced, and short, enough to never overstay its welcome. Besides, it's given a tremendous boost by a modern percussion-heavy score by celebrated performer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg (who even appears as himself during a recording session of the tune heard over the opening credits!).There's also a hilarious scene in which the old-fashioned Gabin visits a hippie club - in search of a girl (Dany Carrel of MILL OF THE STONE WOMEN [1960]) who, apart from being a fling of Gabin's deceased colleague, is a link to the robbery mentioned above since she's the sister of one of the culprits (now also dead). Therefore, she and Gabin conspire to trap the man responsible for both deeds and the film ends with an indiscriminate shoot-out - punctuated by an ominous organ drone - in an abandoned warehouse (which curiously anticipates the climax of THE FRENCH CONNECTION [1971]!).

and the plot may seem familiar from a dozen other crime/thriller movies you have seen, but the character is played by an aging Jean Gabin, who does one of his best performances I can recall. The film depicts well Paris night-life, and the dangerous links between clubs, girls, racketeers, and the Police, in a realistic approach to mid-1960's life.