Rififi a Tokyo / Rififi in Tokyo (1963)

A band of thieves get together in Japan's capital to plan a major heist of only one single jewel - a huge diamond stored in a vault in the Bank of Tokyo. Preparations for the heist are not without problems, and in the end only three of the thieves manage to get into the vault where the diamond is stored. Thanks to modern bank security, the next problem is how to get out of the vault.

Director: Jacques Deray
Cast: Karlheinz Bohm, Charles Vanel, Barbara Lass, Keiko Kishi, Michel Vitold, Eiji Okada, Masao Oda, Dante Maggio, Hideaki Suzuki, Eijiro Yanagi

Extras:
- Interview with Jacques Bar (in French)




IMDb

It's unfortunate that this gem is so little known, which I'm sure is due in part to its attempt to trade on the name of the original 1955 Rififi, a genuine certified masterpiece. Still this is a very satisfying caper film in its own right, combining the hard-bitten characters and no-nonsense tone of the earlier Rififi with a target that would not be out-of-place in many recent thrillers, namely a high-tech bank vault in Tokyo. I was fortunate enough to see this on a double bill with Un Homme est Mort (The Outside Man), Jacques Deray's existential French-hitman-in-Los-Angeles picture, which is also highly recommended.
~ Kim