Noir City: Symphony for a Massacre
February 19, 2024
Perhaps the ultimate heist double-cross movie. A quintet of Parisian businessmen go in on a drug deal, but one of them has a daring plan to hijack the loot and run off with a comrade’s wife. A start-to-finish nail-biter co-scripted by the controversial José Giovanni (who also costars) and directed by thriller specialist Jacques Deray (La Piscine, A Bigger Splash). New Digital Restoration.
Individual Tickets: $16 | $11 SIFF Members - Select showtime to purchase
Passes: $150 | $125 SIFF Members
SIFF year-round passes and vouchers are not valid for this screening.
In this stylish heist noir from director Jacques Deray, master director of the French crime film, five men tied to businesses with varying degrees of legality pool their money to go in on one huge narcotics deal that can set them up for life - and test their loyalties. Restored in 2K from a 4K scan of the surviving 35mm interpositive (the negative is lost), the film boasts stunning black and white photography, supported by a lush and memorable score. Deray assembled an impressive cast of stars, including Charles Vanel (Wages of Fear), Michel Auclair (The Day of the Jackal), future director José Giovanni (Two Men to Kill) who also co-wrote the film, and Jean Rochefort, in a brilliant casting against type from his largely comedic roles up until then. This rediscovered crime thriller is sure to please fans of classic film noir. —Film synopsis courtesy of Cohen Media Collection
- Original Language Title: Symphonie pour un massacre
- Director: Jacques Deray
- Principal Cast: Jean Rochefort, Michel Auclair, Charles Vanel, Jose Giovanni, Claude Dauphin
- Country: France
- Year: 1963
- Running Time: 115 min.
- Producer: Julien Derode
- Screenplay: José Giovanni, Claude Sautet, Jacques Deray
- Cinematographers: Claude Renoir
- Editors: Paul Cayatte
- Music: Michel Magne
- Website: Official Film Website
- Filmography: He Died with His Eyes Open (1985), Borsalino (1970), To Skin a Spy (1966)
- Language: French
- US Distributor: Cohen Film Collection