I came home tonight to the news that the great Jules Dassin, director of the seminal heist film Rififi, has passed away. I think I speak for all of us when I ask this question:
Jesus, when will this end?
Dassin rose to prominence as a director of Hollywood crime dramas, particularly the four films he made between 1947 and 1950: Brute Force, The Naked City, Thieves' Highway, and Night and the City, all of which have received the Criterion treatment.
His promising career hit a snag when he was named as a Communist in 1952, blacklisted, and forced to continue his career outside the U.S. Fleeing to France, he directed Rififi, which has influenced countless filmmakers with its 30-minute dialogue-free heist sequence, as well as Dassin's eye for the Parisian underworld. Other post-blacklist Dassin films included The Law and He Who Must Die.
Even after the lifting of the blacklist, Dassin remained in Europe, makiing such films as Never on Sunday and Topkapi, both of which starred his future wife, Melina Mercouri. Along with their cinematic collaborations, Dassin and Mercouri remained active in politics, working to help restore democracy to Greece during the rule of dictator Stylianos Pattakos.
Dassin, who in a strange irony was arguably more productive and influential after his blacklisting, was 96 years old. Take a moment of silence to remember this master of the medium. Better yet, take half an hour.
