Smůla / La Scoumoune (1972)

In 1930s Marseille, a merciless gang war rages for control of the city's brothels and casinos. Roberto Borgo, a notorious sharpshooter, stands loyally by the side of his friend Xavier. But the rival gangs stop at nothing and manage to frame Xavier for a murder he didn't commit. He is sentenced to 20 years' hard labor at Fort de Bellegarde on the French-Spanish border. Roberto, driven by his friendship with Xavier and his love for Georgia, Xavier's sister, tries everything to save him. But his attempts to free him end in disaster: Roberto himself is sentenced and sent to the same prison camp as Xavier. After the end of the Second World War, the two men are given an unexpected chance to rehabilitate themselves: As minesweepers, they put their lives on the line to redeem their sentence. They defuse bombs and mines on the beaches of Normandy, while many of their fellow sufferers are seriously injured or die around them. Back in freedom, they want to build a new empire with Georgia in the underworld of Paris. But times have changed and the three soon realize that a new start will not be so easy.