Dirty Money (1972) - Free Tickets

About Dirty Money (1972) - Free Tickets

Not to be confused with Jean-Pierre Melville’s final film Un Flic (released in English speaking markets as Dirty Money), Quebec filmmaker Denys Arcand’s Dirty Money released in the same year announced a new auteur working across the pond. The first film of Arcand’s Crime Trilogy and the filmmaker’s debut narrative feature, Dirty Money is a tense thriller told through constantly shifting perspectives set across a grimy, early 70s Montreal.

The film’s opening scenes introduce us to Roland and Berthe, a French Canadian couple struggling to make ends meet. After being offended by a visit from Roland’s affluent uncle Arthur who presents the couple with a gift of $500, they devise a plan to rob him of more money. With the help of a few threatening henchmen, the gang descends upon Arthur’s house at nightfall, only to learn there might be another party interested in the cash…

A criminally underseen bit of neo-noir Canuxploitation that precedes the legendary crime thrillers of the Coen Brothers, Dirty Money is a bleak portrayal of greed, violence and revenge that you won’t want to miss!

“A bracingly unsentimental chronicle of greed and betrayal that’s reminiscent of Jean-Pierre Melville in its minimalist approach to genre and impressive stylistic command, yet deeply rooted in the landscapes and temperament of provincial Quebec, DIRTY MONEY is an under-recognized neo-noir classic.” (Anthology Film Archives)

Trigger warning: sex, violence, injury detail.