50 Offbeat Crime Films
Making interesting crime films is also an art. I took the liberty of choosing 50 films from the period 1970 until now that are somewhat different than regular action flicks. The common thread of these films is a dry, dark humor and a humanistic portrayal of characters. Purely violent crime films, biographies of famous criminals and too well known films (Lock Stock..., Pulp fiction, Out of sight, Ronin) are left out. This counts as well for the TV series (as this is a list of films), so I left out great series as The Wire, Bron/Broen and Engrenages. But I did include some serious Poliziotteschi because of their entertainment values.
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- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsAlain DelonBourvilGian Maria VolontèAfter leaving prison, master thief Corey crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic former policeman. The trio proceed to plot an elaborate heist.
- DirectorJean-Pierre MelvilleStarsAlain DelonRichard CrennaCatherine DeneuveAfter a shaky first heist, a group of thieves plan an even more elaborate and risky second heist.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKayoko KishimotoRen ÔsugiNishi leaves the police in the face of harrowing personal and professional difficulties. Spiraling into depression, he makes questionable decisions.
- DirectorJan KounenStarsVincent CasselTchéky KaryoMonica BellucciDobermann is the world's most ruthless bank robber and with his gang rob bank after bank, now in Paris. What can the police do but to let the mad, morally bankrupt police commissioner loose on him?
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsElliott GouldNina van PallandtSterling HaydenPrivate investigator Philip Marlowe helps a friend out of a jam, but in doing so gets implicated in his wife's murder.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsLee MarvinAngie DickinsonKeenan WynnAfter being double-crossed and left for dead, a mysterious man named Walker single-mindedly tries to retrieve the money that was stolen from him.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsGian Maria VolontèErland JosephsonMario AdorfJourney into the fears of the escort agent Graziano, guilty of knowing too much.
- DirectorSeijun SuzukiStarsJô ShishidoMisako WatanabeTamio KawajiA violent thug plays opposing yakuza bosses against each other.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBen GazzaraTimothy CareySeymour CasselA proud strip club owner is forced to come to terms with himself as a man when his gambling addiction gets him in hot water with the mob, who offer him only one alternative.
- DirectorSergiu NicolaescuStarsIlarion CiobanuAlexandru DobrescuSergiu NicolaescuSet in post war Romania, a communist who was tortured by the fascists during the war is now a police detective and sets about clearing his city of gangsters and black marketeers.
- DirectorAleksey BalabanovStarsAgniya KuznetsovaAleksey PoluyanLeonid GromovA young woman is taken hostage by a police officer gone mad.
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsRomain DurisAure AtikaEmmanuelle DevosWill Thomas still lead a life of crime and cruelty, just like his thuggish father, or will he pursue his dream of becoming a pianist?
- DirectorAleksey BalabanovStarsSergey BodrovViktor SukhorukovSvetlana PismichenkoAn ex-soldier with a personal honor code enters the family crime business in St. Petersburg, Russia.
- DirectorLasse Spang OlsenStarsKim BodniaDejan CukicNikolaj Lie KaasTwo brothers, one cold and ruthless, the other sensitive and reluctant, and their brutal misadventures.
- DirectorKatsuhito IshiiStarsTadanobu AsanoSie KohinataShingo TsurumiIn dreamlike mountain scenery, Toshiko makes a daring escape from her sexually warped Uncle Sonezaki. Fortunately, she met Samehada as she runs for her life, which is also escaping from some slayers. What follows is a wild chase that leads the audience into a comically violent world.
- DirectorJohnnie ToStarsLouis KooHonglei SunYi HuangA drug cartel boss who is arrested in a raid is coerced into betraying his former accomplices as part of an undercover operation.
- DirectorClaude LelouchStarsMichèle MorganSerge ReggianiPhilippe LéotardA very unorthodox police inspector is assigned to investigate a millionaire's mysterious death.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoKippei ShînaRyô KaseThe boss of a major crime syndicate orders his lieutenant to bring a rogue gang of drug traffickers in line, a job that gets passed on to his long-suffering subordinate.
- DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsColin FarrellBrendan GleesonCiarán HindsAfter a job gone wrong, hitman Ray and his partner await orders from their ruthless boss in Bruges, Belgium, the last place in the world Ray wants to be.
- DirectorTakeshi KitanoStarsTakeshi KitanoMaiko KawakamiMakoto AshikawaA violence prone police officer discovers that his colleague is trafficking drugs.
- DirectorKinji FukasakuStarsKôji TsurutaTomisaburô WakayamaTsunehiko WataseA yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
- DirectorLasse Spang OlsenStarsKim BodniaTorkel PeterssonTomas Villum JensenFresh out of a Danish prison, Harald bosses his old gang around, into visiting his hospitalized foster dad, who wants to see his bio son before dying. The son's in a Swedish prison. Then there's a money matter - robbing a bank.
- DirectorFernando Di LeoStarsGastone MoschinBarbara BouchetMario AdorfA former gangster is forced to resume his old lifestyle when his violent, jealous ex-colleagues and the police believe that he knows the location of a stolen cache of $300,000.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsFranco NeroMartin BalsamMarilù ToloIn a city rife with corruption, a cynical police captain clashes with an idealistic district attorney as they attempt to nab an elusive Mafia boss.
- DirectorCédric KahnStarsStefano CassettiIsild Le BescoPatrick Dell'Isola'Kurt' claims to be a sales rep. He also claims to be English in spite of his heavy Italian accent. Kurt is an habitual liar and a dangerous driver, at the very least. In the south of France he meets Léa, age 16. Between his increasingly strange dates with Léa, Kurt engages in a number of armed robberies, some successful, some not... The police are perplexed by a series of crimes including disappearances and a murder. They conclude that they are dealing with a madman... After he proposes, Léa breaks up with Kurt. The attempt to find a new girlfriend leads to a shooting by Kurt, now calling himself André. Léa's information identifies Kurt/André as Roberto Succo, psychiatric patient and parental murderer. The police hunt for Roberto covers three countries.