"Mise A Sac" is one of the most original heist movie I've ever seen, adapted from a novel by Richard Stark. A commando takes peacefully control of a little town and robs everything, until ... No stars in the casting, just Michel Constantin, Daniel Ivernel and others, and that's enough to show a simple non violent global heist, "Mise A Sac" isn't supposed to be a blockbuster with Belmondo, Ventura, Gabin or Delon, the movie stays more realistic that way, with a documentary touch. And maybe this is why "Mise A Sac" is still invisible since too long time, not enough commercial and too "amateur"? I guess Alain Cavalier chose a realistic way of shooting a peaceful commando, and it doesn't seduce the actual distributors. I saw a restored print at the Cinematheque in Paris in December 2014, the theatre was complete. Maybe for the 50 years of the movie, it will be very soon get released. Alain cavalier would love it.
3 Reviews
Directed 50 years ago ... and still not available on DVD
happytrigger-64-39051710 October 2017
Warning: Spoilers
one of the greatest and rarest heist movie ever made
searchanddestroy-13 January 2008
Warning: Spoilers
I discovered "Mise a sac" on June 1975, when I was 12. I fell in love with caper movies at this moment. I was astonished by the idea of the synopsis.
It takes place somewhere near the Alpes. A group - commando - of twelve men decide to attack an entire city during the night. In that purpose, they neutralize the police and fire stations, telephone switchboard - in 1967, mobiles did not exist - control the only entrance of the village.
The village which belongs to them. The whole city, with her banks, jewelry, post office safe, payroll of the local factory and other department stores.
These twelve thieves are not described as robbers or gangsters, but like specialized, meticulous, conscientious workers in a factory. For instance, the safe cracking team in charge of the post office and factory payroll safes, once they have finished those two targets, they receive the order thru radio to carry out towards the bank, to bring some back up to the safe cracking team in charge of the safe deposit room. It is the same in any industrial facility on earth in search of optimizing the production. They are all sympathetic, with no real exception. Rare, in this kind of movie. There is even something of "political" in this crime film, because the small town in question belongs to a very wealthy boss, the owner of the big factory, who takes advantage of the employees working for him, a very important person for this town. So, you see, this plot can be seen as some kind of metaphor against capitalism; some link that was not that obvious in the Richard Stark's novel. And the Edgar's character played by Daniel Ivernel looks really like the character in the book, written three years earlier. Each time I read it again, the depiction of Edgar is EXACTLY Ivernel. I have rarely seen such a concordance between a novel and an adapted film character.
Every one in the audience wishes them to succeed.
It takes place somewhere near the Alpes. A group - commando - of twelve men decide to attack an entire city during the night. In that purpose, they neutralize the police and fire stations, telephone switchboard - in 1967, mobiles did not exist - control the only entrance of the village.
The village which belongs to them. The whole city, with her banks, jewelry, post office safe, payroll of the local factory and other department stores.
These twelve thieves are not described as robbers or gangsters, but like specialized, meticulous, conscientious workers in a factory. For instance, the safe cracking team in charge of the post office and factory payroll safes, once they have finished those two targets, they receive the order thru radio to carry out towards the bank, to bring some back up to the safe cracking team in charge of the safe deposit room. It is the same in any industrial facility on earth in search of optimizing the production. They are all sympathetic, with no real exception. Rare, in this kind of movie. There is even something of "political" in this crime film, because the small town in question belongs to a very wealthy boss, the owner of the big factory, who takes advantage of the employees working for him, a very important person for this town. So, you see, this plot can be seen as some kind of metaphor against capitalism; some link that was not that obvious in the Richard Stark's novel. And the Edgar's character played by Daniel Ivernel looks really like the character in the book, written three years earlier. Each time I read it again, the depiction of Edgar is EXACTLY Ivernel. I have rarely seen such a concordance between a novel and an adapted film character.
Every one in the audience wishes them to succeed.
quality French crime movie.
maquis4 March 1999
Warning: Spoilers
Based on Richard Stark's Parker novel "The Score", this is a taut French crime movie reminiscent of Claude Sautet's early work, J.P.Melville or José Giovanni. The Parker character (Michel Constantin) is not developed as such, but is even better: just a bleak, meticulous professional who's heading a commando-like heist of a whole French mining during the night. One sub-plot in the book is developed to good effect: one of the telephone operators (Irene Tunc), bored and sexy, strikes up a friendship with one of the hoods and leaves with him.
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