Le Ruffian (1983)

Le Ruffian is a French adventure film first released in 1983, directed by José Giovanni.  The film is based on a novel by José Giovanni and stars Lino Ventura, Bernard Giraudeau, Claudia Cardinale, Béatrix Van Til and Pierre Frag.  It has also been released under the title: The Ruffian.  Our overall rating for this film is: good.


Aldo, a middle-aged adventurer, seeks to make his fortune by working in a gold mine in Canada.  One day, the mineworkers are attacked and all but wiped out by a group of armed bandits who intend to steal their gold.  Only Aldo and two Canadian Indians survive the massacre, and in return they kill the bandits.  The trio decide to run off with the gold.  Suspecting his new allies are about to double-cross him, Aldo drives off without them, but he then loses the gold whilst crossing a river.  Determined to recover the gold, Aldo returns to his former home in Montreal and tries to persuade his friends to help him.  His best friend Gérard, a former motorcar-racing driver who lost the use of his legs in an accident, agrees to give his support, along with his wife, Éléonore and another friend John.  Unfortunately, the two Indians whom Aldo betrayed have not given up the gold either…

Lino Ventura and Bernard Giraudeau make a dream team in this American-style adventure film from writer-director José Giovanni.  Despite its somewhat rambling plot and a far from original scenario, the film is worth watching, if only for the stunning photography of one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  Ennio Morricone’s score wittily gives the film the feel of a stylish spaghetti western, a sub-genre which shows its influence in a number of Giovanni’s films.  Whilst the film passes as a respectable adventure film, the strength of the on-screen rapport between Ventura and Giraudeau makes it function better as a study in friendship and camaraderie.  It is a more human variation on the “honour amongst thieves” motif of the traditional French gangster film, a genre with which Giovanni is intimately associated.

© James Travers 2004

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