Review of Les Lyonnais

When the notorious gangster Serge Suttel (Tchéky Karyo) is captured by the French police, his middle-aged best friend Momon Vidal (Gérard Lanvin) meets with his retired friends to organize Serge's prison break. Momon also recalls the beginning of his friendship with Serge, when he was a bullied gypsy boy and how Serge had protected him. Later, Momon worked as a gangster for a powerful mobster and learnt how to plan heists. Then he organized his own Lyon Gang with Serge and his friends, and they have become weaalthy. In the present days, he is a powerful retired mobster, married with his beloved Janou Vidal (Valéria Cavalli) with a son and grandchildren. The rescue of Serge Suttel brings problems he had buried in the past, and now compromises his old friends and his family. But Momon also learns secrets from the past.

"Les Lyonnais" is an excellent film of gangsters, where the lead character Momon Vida is a powerful retired thieve highly respected by his honor and loyalty even by the French Chief of Police. His peaceful present life is disturbed, when his best friend Serge Suttel is arrested by the police. The story is presented in flashbacks in a magnificent screenplay, until Momon discloses a hidden secret from the past in the very ending. The direction and the performance are also top-notch, in this magnificent film. Probably the best film I have watched this year on a DVD bought a long time ago. In the end, another excellent French film. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Pacto de Sangue" ("Pact of Blood")