Le Gitan (1975)
Directed by José Giovanni

Film Review

Immediately after their hugely successful collaboration on Deux hommes dans la ville (1973), writer-director José Giovanni and actor Alain Delon joined forces for a second attention-grabbing thriller with a political subtext, this time one based on the experiences of a real-life gangster maverick, Luciano Lutring.  In the 1960s, Lutring perpetrated hundreds of armed robberies in France and Italy and became Public Enemy Number One before he was finally arrested and brought to justice in 1965.  Nicknamed 'the machine-gun soloist' he became something of a folk hero, his exploits providing the subject for Carlo Lizzani's 1966 film Svegliati e uccidi (Wake up and Die).  In Giovanni's film, Lutring is portrayed as a kind of latter-day Robin Hood, a charismatic hero who is committed to repaying the injustices meted out to gypsies by an intolerant society.

Before he made this film, Giovanni wrote a novel (Histoire de fou) inspired by Lutring.  It is not hard to see why the French author felt such an affinity for the Italian hoodlum.  Like Lutring, Giovanni had had firsthand experience of organised crime.  Both men had narrowly escaped being executed, both had received presidential pardons and both went on to become reformed characters, each finding success as an artist.  In Le Gitan, Giovanni compels us to identify with the central criminal protagonist and see him not as a bad man, but rather someone who feels he is on a mission and mistakenly takes the wrong path.  Giovanni's point is, as ever, that no one is beyond redemption.  Everyone deserves a second chance.

Alain Delon proves to be remarkably effective in humanising his character.  Compared with his earlier, more celebrated gangster portrayals, here he invests his character with a rare warmth and nobility.  Le Gitan is not someone who enjoys hurting others, indeed he goes out of his way to avoid bloodshed, sparing those who would not hesitate to put a bullet in his back.  Unusually for a mainstream policier of this period, Delon is given the opportunity to turn in a nuanced, thought-provoking character portrayal and his performance in Le Gitan certainly counts as one of his most convincing.

If the film has a flaw it is that too much of the attention is diverted away from Delon's character towards another sympathetic criminal type, one played with exquisite charm by Paul Meurisse.  In an uncharacteristically tough role, Meurisse very nearly steals the film from Delon, giving an equally compelling portrayal of an even more intriguing character, a Raffles-like jewel thief who is playing hide-and-seek with the French police after his wife's accidental death.  With Delon and Meurisse both vying for our attention, there is a sense that there are just too many cooks in the kitchen, and the film's impact is inevitably diminished.  The same goes for Annie Giradot, shoehorned into a pretty thankless role, stealing the focus for no apparent reason.  Giovanni shows far better judgement with his supporting roles - Marcel Bozzuffi, Renato Salvatori and a debutant Bernard Giraudeau are all perfect casting choices for the less sympathetic background 'tough guy' parts that are essential to any good policier.

Le Gitan has its moments of excellence, notably some superbly well-orchestrated action scenes, all shockingly realistic.  Less impressive is Giovanni's half-hearted attempt to militate in favour of travellers, his voice carrying far less weight than it had done in his previous film when he spoke out against the death penalty.  To its credit, Le Gitan was one of the first films made in France to comment on the victimisation of gypsies, but rather than being central to the narrative this feels like an after-thought, something bolted on to give the main character a motive for doing what he does.  With so many ill-fitting ingredients, it is surprising that the film holds together as well as it does.  The quality of Giovanni's direction and the excellent lead performances from two giants of French cinema more than make up for the films shortcomings, and the result is surely one of the more substantial French thrillers of the 1970s.

Film Synopsis

For two years, Hugo Sennart has been busy settling old scores with a society that has persecuted his gypsy brothers and sisters for decades.  By raiding banks and post offices, he and his accomplices, Jo Amila and Jacques Helman, steal money, which they distribute amongst their clan.  After the killing of a mayor who refused to grant gypsies permission to set up camp on some unused land, Hugo earns himself the mantle of public enemy number one.   Commissioner Biot is determined to bring him and his band to justice...