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May 02, 2022 By Austin Trunick

Francois “Chico” Tremblay (Marc Legault) is an upwardly mobile gangster. After spending years of his young life in and out of prison, he’s sick of being stuck in the lower rungs of the Montreal mob, doing dangerous jobs for little reward. When he catches wind of a big job across the national border, he takes it on even when his friends and boss warn him against it. Assassinating a famous New York Mafioso lands him a cool fifty grand—and a place at the top of the American mafia’s hit list.

With little hope for survival, Chico makes a bold bid to save the life of a friend being held hostage by his enemies: he calls in to a local talk radio shrink, threatening to spill the beans on his bosses’ crimes if his closest ally isn’t safely released. Unfortunately, there’s little reason for anyone to trust one another—Chico, his enemies, the cops, the radio host—which only ratchets up the tension further as Chico’s adversaries close in on him.

Jacques Godbout’s The Mob (1975) is a gritty little mob movie, and certainly one worthy of rediscovery. Legault’s Chico is an interesting and unusual character—one who takes a gamble and almost immediately realizes how deadly wrong his choice was. Aware of how slim his chances have become, he morphs into something akin to a trapped animal, lashing out in whatever way he can in the hope that maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to break free. In a film genre where we’re accustomed to characters who keep superhumanly cool, Chico is something far more raw and unpredictable.

Canadian International Pictures’ new Blu-ray release brings The Mob to a wider audience with an excellent, restored 2K transfer. Bonus feature include a prior short by the director, Les « troubbes » de Johnny, and a nearly 40-minute reel of trailers for other little-seen Canadian crime flicks. (This is particularly fun – one of those features where you’ll hit “play all” and get hipped to a bunch of low-budget movies you’ve never heard of before.) The booklet includes an essay by Marc Lamothe and an all-new interview with The Mob’s director.

With very little in the way of an established reputation, The Mob is a genuinely obscure little gem, which will definitely scratch an itch with anyone up for an offbeat gangster flick. It’s a good example of a niche release that really shouldn’t be—if you’re a fan of the genre, it’s a film that’s certainly worth a look. Here’s to hoping this young label can keep unearthing underseen features as interesting as this one.

(vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/canadian-international-pictures/products/the-mob-canadian-international-pictures)