Yeah; the whole attraction and merit of Dassin's film is its subtle, meticulous, and realistic approach. I watched it as part of a French Film Noir course, and part of the discussion after viewing always tends to find its way onto comparisons with American Cinema; it was concluded that the themes Rififi deals with and the nature with which it does so wouldn't work in Hollywood. For starters, Pacino won't be able to keep still or silent for half-an-hour, and instead of being professional thieves on a job, there'd be at least one explosion thrown in, to be heard miles away. Time will tell if our preconceptions will come true; as for now, Rififi is a top-class, unequalled film of its kind. The closest resemblance to it is Heat (1995), the director of which, Mann, has always had a nod to European filmmaking.

Thanks for reading,
Mick