

For more than 15 years, two Marseille friends and criminals battle the law, rival gangs, prison authorities and even mined beaches in order to survive.
Acting
Belmondo's physicality crushes you without him saying a word.
Direction
Giovanni's prison sequences feel authentically suffocating.
Cinematography
Marseille never looked this beautifully hopeless.

Director
José Giovanni
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Giovanni adapted his own novel and drew from his actual prison experiences before becoming a filmmaker.
The title 'La Scoumoune' is Marseille slang for bad luck, cursed from birth — the film argues some men are doomed by their own stubborn devotion.