Customer Reviews

Two Men in Town

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Two Men in Town/Deux Hommes dans la Ville is a surprisingly good drama from Jose Giovanni, whose own prison experiences were the basis of Jacques Becker's Le Trou. The same sense of working from first-hand knowledge is omnipresent in this drama about Alain Delon's paroled convict trying to start a new life with the help of prison educator Jean Gabin and almost making a go of it until Michel Bouquet's local flic goes all Inspector Javert on him and does everything in his power to engineer his return to crime. Despite some hairspray style slo-mo montages and some awkward construction in the middle, the film manages to make it's potentially cliched story both involving and convincing, not least because of Giovanni's great sense of place and motion, with his fluid camerawork particularly striking.

Gabin is more engaged by the material than usual at this stage in his career and Delon is surprisingly good, especially in his all too convincing final scene, while a young Gerard Depardieu turns up in a couple of scenes offering three generations of iconic Gallic cinematic losers in one film. The crusading tone of the last third is a tad heavy, but the ending - both ritually stylised and yet realistically performed - makes its point far better than the courtroom speeches.

The letterboxed transfer is more than acceptable but less than outstanding, while the extras consist of brief stills gallery, trailer and trailers for 9 other Delon titles - The Sicilian Clan, Borsalino and Co, Flic Story, Mort d'un Pourri, Trois Hommes a Abbatre, Pour la Peau d'un Flic, Le Battant, Parole de Flic and Ne Reveilles pas un Flic Qui Dort.

This one will certainly separate the liberals from the conservatives in your movie-viewing group. Was the constant hounding by a police inspector of a recent parolee (Alain Delon) responsible for the parolee finally getting himself in trouble again, or is committing a crime simply committing a crime, regardless of whether you were goaded into it by an overzealous law-enforcement official?

Ultimately pretty downbeat, "Two Men in Town" is nevertheless pretty easy-going and engaging over most of its modest length, due to some fine supporting performances and a pleasant view of French family life in the 70's. I imagine, however, that the issue of French prison reform was a hot issue in the 70's, as one has to listen to a few speeches on the topic during the course of the film. What you're likely to remember most, though, are the film's closing images, which are visceral and searing no matter where your sympathies ultimately lie.

The DVD offers a clean, widescreen print of the film and a nice selection of trailers from Alain Delon's film career.

... played the way only Jean Gabin and Alain Delon could. KINO, again, amazes me with the phenomenal selection and their taste. The transfer is pretty good, as well, I would give the transfer a 4 star review. You HAVE to see this movie!

Someone has described this movie as an "interesting meditation on the rights of criminals and the death penalty" and then summarized the main topic as "rather worn out".

Well it's simply not so. After you have finished watching it, you will notice that it's not constrained to the rights of criminials, but rather it's about the lives each of us might live. It's about the prejudices each of us might come across anytime, anywhere; not just the things taking place in the 70's France and its justice system.

And as for the expectations that this be a gangster movie... well Alain Delon has filmed tens of gangster movies already. This movie is about the other side of the coin. There are scenes in the middle which portraits the ex-criminal Gino (Alain Delon) as a very cheerful, positive and constructive man accompanied by one of the best soundtrack compositions I have ever heard.
And it realistically shows how this man is driven into a deadly misfortune thanks to some jealous people who are labeled as good in society.

The last third of the movie makes it unique. Towards the final where Gino is executed, you notice the unforgettable look of the blues eyes marked by Delon's short haircut. It's also the time when you start to think about the harshness of the world and the so-called justice taking place in court. And the final message comes from Gabin: "In the end all I see is a killing machine" implying the gyotine. That message takes you back to the middle of the film, where you have seen that optimistic and full-of-life man.

"Two Men in Town" is a solid film (3.5 stars) about an ex-convict who struggles to find peace after his release from prison. Alain Delon is cool as always, and Jean Gabin gives a nice performance. Surprisingly for me given the description of the film, however, it is not a gangster film. There are almost no action scenes and the pace is rather slow. It is an interesting meditation on the rights of criminals and the death penalty, although this is a rather worn out topic.

I was disapointed.
Jan Gabin was not as he was in many films I saw of him.