Rififi à Tokyo (1962) - film review

The notorious crook Van Hekkin intends to pull one off one final heist before he retires – the theft of a priceless diamond kept in a bank vault in Tokyo.  He has recruited Carl Mersen, one-time soldier in a self-imposed exile, and Pierre Mérigné, an engineer who has perfected a metal-dissolving machine that will make the bank robbery possible.   Hekkin’s scheme is put in jeopardy by Mérigné’s mental instability, which is exacerbated by his wife’s interest in Mersen, and the constant threat from the local mafia…

Jaques Deray’s second film – following Le Gigolo (1960) – is this stylish and largely successful attempt at imitating the American gangster movie, complete with action shootouts, morally ambiguous heroes and a spectacular robbery sequence.  The exotic location and grand bank sets gives the film a sense of scale which few French thrillers of this period could match, whilst the cinematography perfectly evokes the mood of classic film noir.  The only let down is the script, which is hampered by a few too many incidental characters and sub-plots, and some implausible, pretty shallow characterisation.  The bank robbery, however, is masterfully staged, and manages to capture the essence of the great heist movies of the past, notably Jules Dassin’s 1955 film Du rififi chez les hommes (which is also based on one of crime writer Auguste Le Breton’s famous “Rififi” novels).

© James Travers 2006

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