Gangster impresario Roch Siffredi (Alain Delon - Flic Story; The Leopard) has pre-war Marseille in the palm of his well-manicured hand. But when an upstart Italian mob tries to claim the French port town's vice trade for their own, the resulting gang war leaves Siffredi's partner dead, his theater and nightclub in ruins, his brothel vacant and his allies turned against him. "Kill me fast," Siffredi warns victorious rival Valpone (Riccardo Cuciolla - Sacco and Vanzetti). But Valpone's leering reply, "that would be absurd," seals the destinies of both men. Tortured, humiliated, and cast into an insane asylum, Siffredi is stripped of everything except an all-consuming vendetta against Valpone.
For Borsalino and Co., director Jacques Deray (Flic Story) and producer/star Delon pull out all the stops to create a film of uncompromising violence, impeccable period detail and lucid pulp storytelling. Mixing gunfights, bombings, arson, stabbings and assassinations with a meticulous plot that is equal parts Dashiell Hammett and Sergio Leone, Borsalino and Co. is an action-packed crime film of sly wit and passionate vision. Magnetic performances from Delon and Catherine Rouval (Va Savoir), as Siffredi's brother-keeper love, place Borsalino and Co. in the front ranks of the French gun-operas made in the wake of Delon's international smash hit, The Sicilian Clan.