15. Breathless (1960)
Jean-Luc Godard’s crime classic is the quintessential movie of the French New Wave.
Jean-Paul Belmondo, a whole new style of movie star with his boxer’s nose and thick lips, is Michel, a petty thief who kills a cop down south and heads for Paris to look up Patricia (Jean Seberg), an American student less naïve than she looks.
Michel’s US-gangster pose is lifted straight from Jean-Pierre Melville (who takes a cameo role) but the jump-cuts, hand-held camera, improv jazz score and quirky shifts of pace and mood are all Godard.
“Modern movies begin here,” said Roger Ebert.
Killer Scene: The long, unbroken tracking shot that follows Belmondo’s stricken Michel down a Parisian cobbled street.
14. Le Samourai (1961)
Melville’s gangsters stalk the Parisian backstreets in trenchcoats and trilbies, shoulders weighted with existential angst.
They’re chic though: even on the run, Alain Delon’s hitman looks like he’s just stepped out of a Paris Match photoshoot.
Terser than the director’s earlier hoodlum flicks, it regards criminal activity – like Delon stealing a Citroën in the virtuoso opening – with an obsessive eye for detail.
Tarantino’s a fan: “Melville’s movies were basically the Warner Brothers Bogart-Cagney films set to this French-Parisian rhythm.”
Killer Scene: Eluding gendarmes in a dash through the Paris Metro.
13. Salvatore Giuliano (1962)
French critic Michel Ciment reckoned this documentary-tinged portrait of the Sicilian bandit-cum-political terrorist established Francesco Rosi as “the greatest political filmmaker of his time”.
Dead as the film opens, his subject rarely even appears in the ensuing flashbacks. Rosi scrupulously assembles facts and reports pertaining to Giuliano’s death, but suggests the cover-up renders the truth unknowable.
Society, the Mafia and politicos share culpability in Rosi’s crime film-as-political exposé.
Killer Scene: An assiduous beginning: Giuliano’s corpse is described in an official report that reveals diddly-squat.
Comments
ebrown2112
Jun 23rd 2009, 14:04
I disagree about the exclusion of The Departed, but I agree about Goodfellas at #1.
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weirdr0b0t
Jun 23rd 2009, 18:53
i had forgotten about the departed, and i agree that should have been in there!! What about Road to Perdition as well!! That movie should definitely be in there!!
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adammiller2k
Jun 24th 2009, 1:43
forget the departed, infernal affairs is so much better! and having both in the list would have been stupid. great list though. i know i might get hounded for this, but if you had room for only 1 new wave "gangster movie" i'd replace breathless with truffaut's "shoot the pianist" that's a stonking good movie. do the vengance triology not count as gangster movies? i know they are revenge tragedies, but then so is get carter (what a movie). ps tokyo drifter rocks!
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Desperation
Jun 24th 2009, 11:39
I think Carlito's Way should have been higher.
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weirdr0b0t
Jun 24th 2009, 18:38
and you figure s****h or lock Stock or even RocknRolla would have got a mention!!
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Film2517
Jun 25th 2009, 15:26
a pretty accurate list but Gomorrah is the most notable exclusion on it.
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SUPERmovieFREAK
Jun 25th 2009, 17:25
Okay this isn't that bad a list. You've definitely got some all time classics in there like the Godfather Part 1 & 2, Mean Streets, Goodfellas etc, etc. I disagree with Goodfellas being number 1, The Godfather is the greatest movie and greatest gangster movie EVER made (but okay I can deal with Goodfellas being Number 1). But there are some films in there I've never even heard of. What the hell is Casque D'or, never heard of it. Or The Killing, never heard of it. The Big Heat, never heard of it. Instead the complete shmucks you are, you’ve gone and missed major classics out like The Untouchables. How could you forget that? It’s got a small but classic role by Robert DeNiro and the legendary Sean Connery. Plus like people have said above you’ve also missed out major modern classics like The Departed, Gommorah, Road To Perdition and Rock ‘n’ Rolla. AND WHAT THE HELL ABOUT Eastern Promises and A History Of Violence. Two great movies by a great director and I still can’t believe you missed them out. If I was a Don and I saw that list I’d have you all whacked you shmucks.
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Hip2thabone
Jun 26th 2009, 13:56
Seriously this list is totally f****d up. How can u have pulp fiction higher than donnie brasco or infernal affairs? What about a movie called "SHOTTAS"?
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hazey
Feb 5th 2011, 14:45
Breathless is not a gangster flick..the main protaganist is a small time hood!
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DAO999
Jun 21st 2011, 23:35
Once upon a time in America is the worst gangster movie I have ever seen. epic piece of garbage. The acting was horrible and over the top. The scenes were comical. Tried way too much to be overly dramatic; having actors looking off in the distance, as if in deep thought every 5 mins, was beyond lame. The dialog was horrible. The ending was stupid. I love movies and I’ve seen enough gangster movies. I am beyond confused why this movie is well received. I did watch the extended original version and still couldn’t believe how bad it was. It wouldn’t make my top 50 gangster movies. Pulp Fiction needs to be moved up. Also Reservoir Dogs, The departed, and Road to Perdition need to be on this list. Sorry; I’m 2 yrs late on my posting
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glenmarks
Oct 16th 2011, 5:16
What about "New Jack City"?
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mackers2012
Oct 20th 2012, 11:32
the departed sud be in there but the rest seem alrite duno if heat should be so high up
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JazzyFunkStar79
Jan 7th 2013, 1:45
No way is Goodfellas the best Gangster movie ever. Here's my Top 4: 1) The Godfather (Part 1) 2) The Godfather (Part 2) 3) Once Upon A Time In America 4) Goodfellas
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