French gangster Lino Ventura, after years of hiding out in Italy with his wife and kids, decides things have gotten too hot and it's time to return to Paris -- even though he's been sentenced to death there in absentia. Sending his family ahead by train, Ventura and trusted pal Stan Krol pull a daylight robbery in Milan, make a breakneck getaway, then hijack a boat to the French Riviera. There, Ventura contacts his old cronies, now enjoying the spoils of their criminal exploits and leading comfortable, bourgeois lives. Considering their old chum too big a risk, they hire hotheaded Jean-Paul Belmondo to take him for a ride. Back home, Ventura learns hard lessons about friendship and the irretrievability of the past -- but not before he settles scores with his former friends.
Directed by | Claude Sautet |
Written by | Claude Sautet, José Giovanni |