Dir. Claude Sautet, 1971, 112 min.
With Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Georges Wilson, François Périer
In French with English subtitles

Frustrated by a gang of robbers he has failed to catch, time and time again, the aloof Parisian detective Max (Michel Piccoli) decides to save face by enlisting an old acquaintance to entice the petty thieves into robbing a bank. Max poses as a rich banker and lures the lead criminal’s girlfriend, Lilly, with promises of the enormous amounts of cash transferred through his bank. The gang of thieves takes the bait, unaware that the cops are lying in wait for them. But with Max’s plan is coming to fruition, he realizes that he hasn’t fully considered all of its consequences.

“Shot (by René Mathelin) in harsh, grainy color in grubby, workaday locations in and around Paris, “Max et les Ferrailleurs,” adapted from a novel by Claude Néron, has the matter-of-fact look and careful pace of a precinct-house procedural.” — The New York Times