Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.5

Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 9, 2014

Claude Sautet's "Classe Tous Risques" a.k.a. "The Big Risk" (1960) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers for the film and the documentary film "Monsieur Ventura". The release also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring John Patterson's essay "Classe tous risques" and Geoff Andrew's essay "Claude Sautet: The Underrated Auteur". In French and Italian, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked'.

"The guy shadowing me is still alive. So are you. You should be happy."

French gangster Abel Davos (Lino Ventura, Army of Shadows) and his best pal Raymond Naldi (Stan Krol) desperately need cash so that they can move back to France. In downtown Milan, they mug two bank clerks and quickly disappear. Shortly after, the Italian police block all major roads leading to and out of the city.

The fugitives join Abel’s wife, Therese (Simone France), and two boys in Ventimiglia, but the police quickly close the area. There they meet another gangster with plenty of connections (Corrado Guarducci, Les Cousins), who suggests that they use a boat to reach the beautiful resort San Remo and from there try to sneak into France. Abel and Raymond like the idea, but when later the same day they reach the border two Italian guards notice their boat and open fire. During the shootout, Raymond and Abel’s wife are killed.

Abel and the kids manage to get to Nice, where a retired gangster who owes him a favor (Charles Blavette, Toni) allows them to stay in his hotel. The Frenchman immediately phones his associates in Paris and asks them to figure out a way to get him out of Nice. No longer interested in dealing with him, the associates reluctantly send Eric Stark (Jean-Paul Belmondo, The Professional), a loner willing to risk his life for money, hoping that he will make a crucial mistake and the police will either capture Abel or kill him while trying. A few days later, Abel and Erik meet in a post office in Nice.

On the way back to Paris, Erik picks up Liliane (Sandra Milo, 8½, La Visita), a beautiful young girl who wants to be an actress, after he sees an angry man trying to beat her up on the side of the road. They arrange to see each other again.

In Paris, Abel meets his associates in a bar and quickly realizes that he can no longer trust them. Eric invites him to stay in the empty maid’s room in his building while he figures out what to do next. The disillusioned and penniless gangster then asks an old friend to look after his boys and visits a few well-known scammers who keep enough cash in their offices to quickly pay men looking to get rid of stolen goods.

This classic film directed by the great Claude Sautet is based on a novel published by former prisoner Jose Giovanni, whose name is attached to some of the ‘coolest’ French gangster films from the '60s and '70s (Jacques Becker’s Le Trou, Jacques Deray’s Rififi in Tokyo, Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Deuxième Souffle, Henri Verneuil’s The Sicilian Clan). In the ‘70s, Giovanni also stepped behind the camera and directed a couple of really excellent films about men on the run with the great Alain Delon (Two Men in Town, Boomerang, The Gypsy).

Classe Tous Risques a.k.a. The Big Risk is about the code of honor that once existed amongst gangsters. Small parts of it look as if they have been extracted from an old documentary film, but the bleak atmosphere and stylish visuals remind of Melville’s gangster films.

Unlike Melville’s protagonists, however, the men and women that populate Sautet’s films are typically vulnerable individuals that can easily be hurt. This is precisely the case with Ventura’s loyal gangster in Classe Tous Risques who also happens to be a loving father, as well as the many different characters in Sautet’s great romantic dramas (César et Rosalie, Mado, Un Coeur en Hiver, Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud).

Ventura, who frequently said that he is a child of the streets, is the heart and soul of the film. In some of the best sequences, he simply smokes or looks around to see if anyone is following him but the visuals are brilliant. The supporting cast is equally impressive. The young Belmondo is terrific as Ventura’s partner. As usual, Milo looks very sexy. Despite his limited time in front of the camera even Krol, a former prisoner, also leaves a lasting impression.

Classe Tous Risques was lensed by the great Belgian cinematographer Ghislain Cloquet (Robert Bresson’s Au Hasard Balthazar and Mouchette, Roman Polanski’s Tess). The film’s soundtrack was created by Oscar-winning composer Georges Delerue (François Truffaut’s Day for Night, Jean Becker’s One Deadly Summer).

Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.64:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Claude Sautet's Classe Tous Risques arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of the British Film Institute.

The following text appears inside the booklet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"TF1 transferred the film in High Definition using the original 35mm negative for picture, and audio sourced from the original 35mm interpositive. Dirt and debris were removed using the NTI restoration system. Black frames which are visible intermittently throughout the film were present in the original 35mm negative and were retained in TF1's restoration so as to respect the film's original production processes, and guard against any re-editing of the film's original soundtrack.

Technical coordinator: Stephanie Bellaud (TF1)."

Excluding a few specks that pop up early in the film, the new restoration of this classic French gangster film is quite beautiful. Indeed, image depth, clarity, contrast stability, and color saturation are dramatically improved. Direct comparisons with Criterion's R1 DVD release also immediately reveal major improvements in terms of shadow definition (see screencapture #6). The best news, however, is that there are no traces of problematic degraining corrections. Compromising sharpening adjustments also have not been performed. Rather predictably, the film has a solid and very convincing organic look. Compression and encoding are very good, though I feel that some minor improvements can be made in select areas. Regardless, when projected the film looks simply fabulous. Lastly, there are no serious stability issues to report in this review. All in all, I am very pleased with this new release of Classe Tous Risques. The film undoubtedly looks the best it ever has. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: French LPCM 2.0 (with portions of Italian). For the record, the BFI has provided optional English subtitles for the main feature..

The quality of the lossless track is impressive. Clarity and especially depth are substantially improved. There is an even better range of nuanced dynamics that serve Georges Delerue's soundtrack very well. On the R1 DVD release, dynamic movement is far less impressive. The dialog is sharp, stable, and easy to follow. Also, there are no problematic pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or distortions to report in this review. The English translation is excellent.

Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• French Trailer - restored original French trailer for Classe Tous Risques. In French, with optional English subtitles. (4 min).

• U.S. Trailer - original U.S. trailer for Classe Tous Risques. In English, without optional subtitles. (2 min).

• Monsieur Ventura - an in-depth look at the life and legacy of the great Italian actor. The documentary contains clips from archival interviews with Lino Ventura, actor/singer Charles Aznavour, writer/director/actor Jose Giovanni, assistant director Claude Pinoteau, and actor Henri Cogan, amongst others. In French, with optional English subtitles. (36 min).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring John Patterson's essay "Classe tous risques" and Geoff Andrew's essay "Claude Sautet: The Underrated Auteur".

Classe Tous Risques Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I am extremely pleased with BFI's release of Claude Sautet's Classe Tous Risques. Recently restored by TF1, this classic French gangster film looks simply beautiful on Blu-ray. Let's hope that soon we will also see equally impressive presentations of director Sautet's wonderful The Things of Life, Mado, and Un Coeur en Hiver. Buy with confidence, folks. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.