Rififi in Tokyo

Rififi in Tokyo, based on a novel by writer Auguste Le Breton, is a slow going heist film that picks up in the final third.

A group of French criminals come to Tokyo to pull a bank job. Of course, complications abound. The territorial yakuza kills one of the out-of-towners. A retired hood must be convinced to come back to the game for one last job. The team's electronic specialist, a civilian doing this one job, brings along his unknowing wife to Tokyo. A love triangle develops. An ambitious brother and sister are part of the gang, wanting money to break away from their traditional Japanese parents. Then, there is the troublesome yakuza. Not all of these plot threads are equally interesting and at least one is left hanging at film's end.

The film has its strength. Charles Vanel adds gravity playing the older, weary leader of the gang. His scenes inside the bank give the film its heart. The Tokyo setting make a nice change of pace. A shootout with the yakuza provides thrills. Finally, the heist brings the film to a satisfying close.

Rififi in Tokyo is not up there with the best of the genre. It lacks both the character depth of Bob the Gambler or The Second Breath and the stinging irony of, say, The Killing. The film is just a modest heist movie which entertains enough, mostly thanks to the last third, to make for worthwhile viewing.