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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The gangsters that inhabit the seedy underworld of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Doulos", all seem incapable of that most important of human virtues, loyalty. Melville himself said that "All the characters are two-faced, all the characters are false". Or as Marlon Brando called them in his 1961 film of the same title, they are all "One Eyed Jacks". The back stabbing face was not always obvious. They live by the motto "Lie or Die", and there is a lot of both in this film. But to describe this film as another gangster movie would be to do it a grave injustice.
The film is so multi layered it would be very hard to give any detailed synopsis, even if I wanted to. A criminal just out of jail becomes involved in a robbery that goes wrong. An accomplice is killed and the criminal begins a hunt for the man he believes was responsible for informing to the police. But there is a web of deceit, murder and betrayal, before the truth can come out. Or is that the truth! As usual Melville throws in some femme fatales to liven up proceedings. The main characters Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani are resplendent in Sam Spade like trench coats, and we are awash with noir imagery from the startling opening shot. Back alleys, dingey hotel rooms and dark subterranean tunnels decorate this criminal labyrinth. It is a film of many doors, where a hail of bullets may await behind any one.
Melville is in his beloved comfort zone of film noir influenced ganster movie. It is what he is famous for, and probably what he did best, although I have a feeling given the chance he would have been good in most genres. He was a film maker of great talent, and he showcases much of that in this film. It is beautifully shot and has a wonderful stylised dialogue, which the actors use to good effect. You keep looking for the good guy, but there is none to be seen. Even the police are distinctly dodgy! Melville weaves an intricate web into which it is a joy to become entangled.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive", Sir Walter Scott "Marmion".
The film is so multi layered it would be very hard to give any detailed synopsis, even if I wanted to. A criminal just out of jail becomes involved in a robbery that goes wrong. An accomplice is killed and the criminal begins a hunt for the man he believes was responsible for informing to the police. But there is a web of deceit, murder and betrayal, before the truth can come out. Or is that the truth! As usual Melville throws in some femme fatales to liven up proceedings. The main characters Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani are resplendent in Sam Spade like trench coats, and we are awash with noir imagery from the startling opening shot. Back alleys, dingey hotel rooms and dark subterranean tunnels decorate this criminal labyrinth. It is a film of many doors, where a hail of bullets may await behind any one.
Melville is in his beloved comfort zone of film noir influenced ganster movie. It is what he is famous for, and probably what he did best, although I have a feeling given the chance he would have been good in most genres. He was a film maker of great talent, and he showcases much of that in this film. It is beautifully shot and has a wonderful stylised dialogue, which the actors use to good effect. You keep looking for the good guy, but there is none to be seen. Even the police are distinctly dodgy! Melville weaves an intricate web into which it is a joy to become entangled.
"Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive", Sir Walter Scott "Marmion".
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I have seen a Bob le Flambeur and The Army of Shadows and le Cercle Rouge. All have their merits but none of them convince me that Melville is the real mccoy or that he has a consistent style by which it seems that he knows where he is really going (good lord! come on! they're all pretty good and never uninteresting!). There is merit in an eclectic approach or a varied style but in terms of flaws, this seems to have fewer if any. It is quite shocking in its way and full of interesting and confident angles, moments, scenes. If I had to choose one of the above three or this to convince a Melville-sceptic, which I remain (what a pompous remark - sorry!), I'd choose this. I suspect further viewings might convince us this is the one, the masterpiece! Do you ever CARE about a Melville character - perhaps that is the 'noir' point: be tough, have a fag or twenty and stop thinking you should worry about the low-lifes. Yes. That's it.
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