José Giovanni

Writing

José Giovanni

Born — Died

1923-06-22 — 2004-04-24

Place of birth

Paris, France

Known for

Writing

Credits

51 titles

José Giovanni (22 June 1923, Paris, France – 24 April 2004, Lausanne, Switzerland) was the pseudonym of Joseph Damiani, a French writer and film-maker of Corsican origin who became a naturalized Swiss citizen in 1986. A former collaborationist and criminal who at one time was sentenced to death, Giovanni often drew his inspiration from personal experience or from real gangsters, such as Abel Danos in his 1960 film Classe tous risques, overlooking that they had been members of the French Gestapo. In his films as well as his novels, while praising masculine friendships and advocating the confrontation of the individual against the world, he often championed the underworld but was always caref…

Known for

Film credits

2000s · 3 titles

Series credits

Behind the camera

Le Trou poster
8.2

Four prison inmates have been hatching a plan to literally dig out of jail when another prisoner, Claude Gaspard, is moved into their cell. They take a risk and share their plan with the newcomer. Over the course of three days, the prisoners and friends break through the concrete floor using a bed post and begin to make their way through the sewer system – yet their escape is anything but assured.

Le Trou

1960

The Last Adventure poster
6.9

Two adventurers and best friends, Roland and Manu, are the victims of a practical joke that costs Manu his pilot's license. With seeming contrition, the jokesters tell Roland and Manu about a crashed plane lying on the ocean floor off the coast of Congo stuffed with riches. The adventurers set off to find the loot.

The Last Adventure

1967

Two Men in Town poster
7.1

A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.

Two Men in Town

1973

Two Men in Town poster
7.1

A former bank robber is released after 10 years in prison. He gets help from a social-worker, but gets harassed by an old cop from his past.

Two Men in Town

1973

The Sicilian Clan poster
7.6

An ambitious mobster plans an elaborate diamond heist while seducing the daughter-in-law of a ruthless mob patriarch as a determined police commissioner closes in on all of them.

The Sicilian Clan

1969

The Gypsy poster
6.2

Two thieves, Hugo Sennart and Yan Kuq, wanted by the same police inspector, cross paths by chance.

The Gypsy

1975

The Gypsy poster
6.2

Two thieves, Hugo Sennart and Yan Kuq, wanted by the same police inspector, cross paths by chance.

The Gypsy

1975

Boomerang poster
5.7

A reformed gangster turns to his old associates for help after his son kills a police officer.

Boomerang

1976

Boomerang poster
5.7

A reformed gangster turns to his old associates for help after his son kills a police officer.

Boomerang

1976

The Pariah poster
6.8

For more than 15 years, two Marseille friends and criminals battle the law, rival gangs, prison authorities and even mined beaches in order to survive.

The Pariah

1972

The Pariah poster
6.8

For more than 15 years, two Marseille friends and criminals battle the law, rival gangs, prison authorities and even mined beaches in order to survive.

The Pariah

1972

Last Known Address poster
7.3

Marceau Léonetti, a competent and energetic officer stops by chance the son of an influential lawyer driving under the influence of alcohol. A few months later, the lawyer falsely accuses Léonetti as being violent and incompetent. As a result Marceau is transferred to a small police station, where he meets young and beautiful Jeanne. Soon they are faced with a tough investigation.

Last Known Address

1970

Last Known Address poster
7.3

Marceau Léonetti, a competent and energetic officer stops by chance the son of an influential lawyer driving under the influence of alcohol. A few months later, the lawyer falsely accuses Léonetti as being violent and incompetent. As a result Marceau is transferred to a small police station, where he meets young and beautiful Jeanne. Soon they are faced with a tough investigation.

Last Known Address

1970

Law of Survival poster
5.8

In 1960, Stan, the protagonist, after having made a fortune in Asia, returns to Corsica, to visit a friend's tomb. In Ajaccio, he meets Helene, who she rescues from her kidnappers, who take advantage of her "charms" in a house of ill reputation. They hide then somewhere in the mountains, where they are pursued by the Corsican mobsters...

Law of Survival

1967

Law of Survival poster
5.8

In 1960, Stan, the protagonist, after having made a fortune in Asia, returns to Corsica, to visit a friend's tomb. In Ajaccio, he meets Helene, who she rescues from her kidnappers, who take advantage of her "charms" in a house of ill reputation. They hide then somewhere in the mountains, where they are pursued by the Corsican mobsters...

Law of Survival

1967

To Skin a Spy poster
5.8

A French secret agent gets a license to kill when he is sent to Vienna to plug a security leak in this routine spy saga. He is caught in the crossfire of international enemy agents trying to eliminate the French.

To Skin a Spy

1966

My Friend the Traitor poster
6.4

After the end of World War II, a collaborationist seeks redemption.

My Friend the Traitor

1988

Le Deuxième Souffle poster
7.7

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

Le Deuxième Souffle

1966

Two Men in Town poster
5.5

A convict is released from prison in a small town in New Mexico. 18 years ago he killed a deputy. The then-and-now sheriff seeks revenge.

Two Men in Town

2014

The Sewers of Paradise poster
6.4

In July of 1976, the Societé Générale of France was robbed of well over $10 million dollars by a group burrowing through the sewers of Paris. This movie is based on a book by the thieves' mastermind, Albert Spaggiari. The famous theft won the nickname, "the great drain robbery," and this romanticized cinematic retelling of the true story stars Francis Huster as Spaggiari.

The Sewers of Paradise

1979

The Sewers of Paradise poster
6.4

In July of 1976, the Societé Générale of France was robbed of well over $10 million dollars by a group burrowing through the sewers of Paris. This movie is based on a book by the thieves' mastermind, Albert Spaggiari. The famous theft won the nickname, "the great drain robbery," and this romanticized cinematic retelling of the true story stars Francis Huster as Spaggiari.

The Sewers of Paradise

1979

Symphony for a Massacre poster
6.7

A band of gangsters devise a plan to steal a game contested between two drug gangs of drug traffickers: the five fraudsters will face bigger problems than them.

Symphony for a Massacre

1963

The Ruffian poster
6.3

The adventures of a group of friends who plan to recover crates full of gold from a fall in Canada.

The Ruffian

1983

The Ruffian poster
6.3

The adventures of a group of friends who plan to recover crates full of gold from a fall in Canada.

The Ruffian

1983

My Father Saved My Life poster
7.4

Novelist and filmmaker Jose Giovanni turned to the remarkable true story of how his father helped him escape a date with the guillotine for this drama, which is based closely on events from his own life. During World War II, Manu (Vincent Lecoeur, as a character Giovanni modeled after himself) fought with the French Resistance, but near the end of the war he fell into a life of crime, and in 1947, 22-year-old Manu was arrested for his part in a bungled robbery that left a man dead. While Manu did not pull the fatal trigger, he refuses to say who did, since it would mean implicating his uncle, one of the few members of his family who has stood by him; Manu's brother is dead, and he turned his back on his father Joe (Bruno Cremer) years ago. Manu is sentenced to death, and while he protests his innocence, his attempts to escape from prison do little to convince anyone that he's telling the truth.

My Father Saved My Life

2001

My Father Saved My Life poster
7.4

Novelist and filmmaker Jose Giovanni turned to the remarkable true story of how his father helped him escape a date with the guillotine for this drama, which is based closely on events from his own life. During World War II, Manu (Vincent Lecoeur, as a character Giovanni modeled after himself) fought with the French Resistance, but near the end of the war he fell into a life of crime, and in 1947, 22-year-old Manu was arrested for his part in a bungled robbery that left a man dead. While Manu did not pull the fatal trigger, he refuses to say who did, since it would mean implicating his uncle, one of the few members of his family who has stood by him; Manu's brother is dead, and he turned his back on his father Joe (Bruno Cremer) years ago. Manu is sentenced to death, and while he protests his innocence, his attempts to escape from prison do little to convince anyone that he's telling the truth.

My Father Saved My Life

2001

Among Wolves poster
4.4

An American general with highly confidential defence information has been kidnapped by terrorists and is being held in a cliff-top fortress in the Mediterranean.

Among Wolves

1985

Among Wolves poster
4.4

An American general with highly confidential defence information has been kidnapped by terrorists and is being held in a cliff-top fortress in the Mediterranean.

Among Wolves

1985

The Man from Marrakech poster
7.0

In southern Morocco, a hold-up is organized on the road linking the northern towns to a major factory built on a gold deposit. Several accomplices have perfected a carefully thought-out "scenario" that should bring them success. Travis, a specialist, and his mistress, Lila, a former barmaid, "work" in liaison with Vibert, the mine engineer. José, the local mechanic, and Georges, the truck driver, have already been sacrificed.

The Man from Marrakech

1966

One Way Ticket poster
5.3

After a bank robbery gone wrong, a crook goes on the run across Belgium to escape the police, clear himself of a crime that he did not commit, and protect his girlfriend from a shady lawyer.

One Way Ticket

1971

One Way Ticket poster
5.3

After a bank robbery gone wrong, a crook goes on the run across Belgium to escape the police, clear himself of a crime that he did not commit, and protect his girlfriend from a shady lawyer.

One Way Ticket

1971

Une robe noire pour un tueur poster
5.5

The "black robe" in the title of this suspense film belongs to a female lawyer, Florence Nat who has just lost a case in which she defended Simon Risler, a man wrongly accused of murder. Risler escapes before he can be put in prison, and seeks help from attorney Nat in finding the real killer, partly by going after the police inspector who framed him in the first place. A retired surgeon, in the process of setting up a drug rehab clinic gets involved in solving Risler's case, and soon the solution seems to be pointing to high-ranking figures with every desire and ample means to keep the truth well-hidden.

Une robe noire pour un tueur

1981

Une robe noire pour un tueur poster
5.5

The "black robe" in the title of this suspense film belongs to a female lawyer, Florence Nat who has just lost a case in which she defended Simon Risler, a man wrongly accused of murder. Risler escapes before he can be put in prison, and seeks help from attorney Nat in finding the real killer, partly by going after the police inspector who framed him in the first place. A retired surgeon, in the process of setting up a drug rehab clinic gets involved in solving Risler's case, and soon the solution seems to be pointing to high-ranking figures with every desire and ample means to keep the truth well-hidden.

Une robe noire pour un tueur

1981

Where Did Tom Go? poster
7.4

Tom is a secretary for an association which aims to free political prisoners. Skipping from inaction he plans and kills dictator Anton Caras. Arrested he ends up in a jail full of political prisoners for whose freedom he had been working. Eventually he manages to escape but only one would follow him. The others preferred to stay and testify before the court.

Where Did Tom Go?

1971

Where Did Tom Go? poster
7.4

Tom is a secretary for an association which aims to free political prisoners. Skipping from inaction he plans and kills dictator Anton Caras. Arrested he ends up in a jail full of political prisoners for whose freedom he had been working. Eventually he manages to escape but only one would follow him. The others preferred to stay and testify before the court.

Where Did Tom Go?

1971

Crime à l'altimètre poster
7.0

A mountain climber devises a plan to eliminate the tyrannical husband of a young Vietnamese woman with whom he has fallen in love.

Crime à l'altimètre

1996

Crime à l'altimètre poster
7.0

A mountain climber devises a plan to eliminate the tyrannical husband of a young Vietnamese woman with whom he has fallen in love.

Crime à l'altimètre

1996

Birds of Prey poster
6.6

1938, a Central America country. A Frenchman who goes by the name "Le Rital" is hired to take out the local dictator. Young Chico is assigned as his right-hand man, whom he impresses. Will a friendship form between them?

Birds of Prey

1968

Birds of Prey poster
6.6

1938, a Central America country. A Frenchman who goes by the name "Le Rital" is hired to take out the local dictator. Young Chico is assigned as his right-hand man, whom he impresses. Will a friendship form between them?

Birds of Prey

1968

L'Irlandaise poster
9.0

A lonely advertising executive finds himself in charge of an Irish teenager with suicidal ideas about heroism.

L'Irlandaise

1991