Max and the Junkmen is a French/Italian crime drama about a detective, Max (Michael Piccoli, The Day of the Jackal) a person who comes from a wealthy family, lives in Paris, making a living as a tough-guy detective. Max has grown frustrated because he hasn’t been able to catch a group of criminals. Max is what you would consider to be a loner and has an obsession with capturing crooks and because he doesn’t want his reputation tarnished, and lose confidence in himself, he decides to go undercover and finally capture robbers in a big-time trap. Along the way he gets information by intelligence reports and by spending evenings with a prostitute, Julia Anna “Lily” (Romy Schneider, The Trial), who also happens to be the girlfriend of the group’s leader Abel Maresco (Bernard Fresson, French Connection II) and an old acquaintance of Max. Posing as a rich banker with money to spend, Max has fooled Lily and informs her about a payroll coming from his bank, setting the trap.
Max and the Junkmen, after viewing this twice has really grown on me. Director Claude Sautet did a fantastic job keeping the film moving along a lethargic by design pace leading to the payoff at the finale. The leads’ performances are stellar, appearing to be so relaxed as if they were not acting in a movie. Michael Piccoli is excellent as Max, who is much more of a complex person than just a detective. There is a certain dark aura about Max and the Junkmen that makes the film that much more compelling. There is nothing spiffy or fancy about Max and the Junkmen. It is a hard-hitting no-nonsense story about crime. The film has a moody Noir-ish atmosphere, mainly because of the lack of music in certain intervals, adding to the effectiveness. Of course, there is a soundtrack to the film and Academy Award winning French composer Philippe Sarde is the man responsible for the snazzy jazz scores.
Arriving on Blu-ray for the first time in North America courtesy of Kino Lorber, Max and the Junkmen in solid release. Shown in its original aspect ratio of 1:66:1, in 1080p on a dual layered BD-50 disc, the image looks phenomenal. Given an HD master from an original 35mm film element provided by Studio Canal, the picture is just dynamic with strong contrast, rich, bold colors with fine details to scenery as well as the clothes the actors wear. The video shows rich textures, fine details and the presence of film grain throughout, showing no signs of DNR or waxy faces on the characters.
The French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. provided for this release is excellent. The audio, dialog, gunshots, and other sounds heard during the film come perfectly fine without any issues. The audio is not overly powerful or aggressive, but everything is crisp and clear. Optional English subtitles are available for the release.
Supplements are light, but it does include an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. She gives a tour de force about the background of Max and the Junkmen, the cast, and analysis of the film, stating it is more than just a movie about crime.
The other ‘extra’ are theatrical trailers for Max and the Junkmen, Diabolically Yours, Farewell Friend, And Hope to Die, Le Doulos and What’s New Pussycat.
Max and the Junkmen is a superior film that should be on the shelf of every fan of French crime films. Seeing the film in high definition will make this one great viewing experience. I highly recommend the release! For those that I haven’t seen it, give this movie a spin!
Max and the Junkmen
Director- Claude Sautet
Cast- Michel Piccoli, Romy Schneider, Bernard Fresson
Country of Origin- France / Italy
Distributor – Kino Lorber
Number of Discs – 1
Reviewed by – David Steigman
Date- 6/20/20