Late 1920ies and the 1930ies were apparently the years when gallantry and stylishness saw their peak: war wounds were mostly healed, people acquired wealth, aristocracy and bourgeoisie were able to spend on entertainment and diversity again. Such was the background in the 1930 Marseille, where two small-time crooks join forces after an odd meeting, begin with fixed horse races and fights, and the continue in doing jobs for local top gangsters. Viewers can see several fine places, with wealthy people wearing stylish clothes, enjoying a good music/games/food, sometimes disrupted by shootings, chases and fights, mostly related to the two leading characters - François Capella and Roch Siffredi, splendidly performed by famous character actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon, respectively. Their talent and elegance is visible throughout the film, outperforming all their co-actors, and the French language is a booster of the atmosphere (U.S. gangster films are usually gloomier and rougher).Borsalino is a fine example of French action movies made in the 1960- 70ies; luckily, it is a colour film and shows fully the talents of Belmondo and Delon. I try to watch its sequel as soon as possible.

As chic and stylish as the eponymous hat,"Borsalino" is a hugely enjoyable exercise in post - modern - irony many years before that genre was actually invented.It features two of French Cinema's most iconic male actors guying their movie personas very amiably,wearing great suits and exhibiting that deadly combination of charm and danger that sets many a woman (and not a few men) a - tremble. It is so essentially Gallic you can almost smell the croissants,coffee and "Gitanes". The boys smoke and drink with innocent enjoyment,tote their gats with huge panache and altogether have a hell of a time. Their more "serious" movies are lauded by critics,"Borsalino" often dismissed as makeweight - a pot - boiler.Anybody who thinks that has no idea how hard good comedy is. This is a near - perfect movie.The score by pianist/composer Claude Bolling is exactly fittling. If you fell asleep watching some "nouvelle vague" classic about a miserable rat - faced hero wandering the wet pavements of Paris looking for something he'll never find,"Borsalino" will restore your dormant love of le styl Francais.

Borsalino tells the rise and fall of two small-time crooks in 1930 Marseille. Their rivalry soon becomes a strong friendship, allowing them to reach a place in the sun among other gangsters, even threatening the truce between the two ruthless families that control the city.Jean-Paul Belmondo and Alain Delon shine in this enjoyable recreation of the ever-corrupted French city. The sets and costumes are terrific, and the music by Claude Bolling became an instant classic. So classic in fact that the director Jacques Deray over-uses it in some parts. The secondary characters are interesting somewhat but clearly overshadowed by the two leads. As for the script, it manages many enjoyable moments wandering between funny and tragic bits, however it is too hammy to totally convince and is not helped by a very dated type of editing. I don't know if it was to mimic the style of older gangster movies, but the movie should've been tighter on that point.All in all, a very decent French movie. Far from flawless, but recommended.

We located this 1970 Film BORSALINO, English Version with No Subtitles in a small video store in French Canada.......It is not easy to find anymore and most of the old ex-rentals have been tampered with...........Borsalino features Alain Delon and Jean-Paul Belmondo as charismatic gangsters in 1930s Marseilles who join forces when they meet brawling over a woman.. with fixed horse races and fights, they start to find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change........Inspired by Eugene Saccomano's novel The Bandits of Marseilles. ...The version we have is 2 Hours 5 Minutes long and is the most complete we have been able to find....We have never been able to locate a French Version in 9 years of looking........BQA Films