Casque d'Or

Set on the outskirts of Paris at the turn of the twentieth century. Marie belongs to a gang leader; Manda has left crime and works as a carpenter. They meet at an open air dance, and that look wrecks everyone's life. Leca, who runs the gang, uses the police to turn the situation to his own advantage. Jacques Becker does not use the period as decoration. The prettier the costumes and the settings, the harder the story runs underneath. Its best quality is showing the consequence of violence rather than the violence. The story rests on a real case: a feud in 1902 between a woman named Amélie Élie and two leaders of the Apache gangs filled the French papers for months. Simone Signoret and Serge Reggiani lead. Its flaw is that the characters' backgrounds are barely given and the gang manoeuvring in the middle is hard to follow. It is now regarded as one of Becker's finest films, though it drew little attention when it appeared. Who it is for: viewers who love French classics and inevitable romantic tragedy. Who it is not for: anyone wanting pace.