La Rumba (1987) - film review

Paris 1938.  On the eve of World War Two, a wealthy Italian emigrant, Beppo Manzoni, runs a network of gambling casinos and night clubs.  He shelters three fugitives from the Mussolini regime.  But he is hounded by Commissioner Detaix who, belonging to a fascist cell, is resolved to kill any anti-fascist sympathisers...

This lively period drama is at heart little more than a comic-book gangster movie, but its production values are so high that you can hardly fail to be impressed.  Some pretty graphic violence mingles with vibrant 1930s dance floor routines to create an unsettlingly glamorous view of gangland life before the war.

It is very difficult to see beyond the film’s surface gloss, however.  Things seem to happen so fast, the photography is a sumptuous feast from start to finish, and the sound track is virtually one long series of 1930s jazz and music hall hits.  The plot is a little thin on the ground, but this hardly seems to matter.  Hanin’s acting performance bring a welcome touch of melancholic sobriety to a film that it just too cheerful and classy for its own good.

This is just a classic gangster movie souped up to suit a 1980s audience.  Whilst overall the film is possibly lacking in substance, it is terrific entertainment, worth watching if only for Guy Marchand’s fine rendition of “Le Chapeau de Zozo”.

© James Travers 2000

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