Director Claude Sautet’s timing was unlucky.
His masterly 1960 policier was released within days of Godard’s À Bout De Souffle , which grabbed all the attention. And Jean-Paul Belmondo, an unknown when Sautet cast him, was suddenly a major star on the strength of Godard’s movie.
But over the years Risques’ reputation has risen. A sombre, downbeat gem in the hard-bitten tradition of Rififi , it stars Lino Ventura as the big-time gangster fallen on hard times, whose former friends don’t want to know
Belmondo’s young thief comes to his aid, at once boosting the movie with his charisma.
