306 Le samouraï

[zedz]

But we really MUSTN'T go there!

Nope. No way. Not me. I was nowhere near the church when it burned down. In fact, I even tried to put it out.

[HerrSchreck]

You a pro-bono lawyer or public advocate in real life?

No, though in my spare time I apparently try to be a non-creative creature who make a parasitic pastime advising the world of the soleness of their perfection.

The Aviator/Occasional Comprehender of the Important Work of Others ... which I'm apparently alleging is very Important Work

Here we go round the prickly pear, prickly pear, prickly pear, here we go round the prickly pear @ 1:52 in the morning.

I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent thread moderation.

[HerrSchreck]

zedz I musta helped cause I pissed on it.

That was a wonderful performance you delivered where you pissed in the church-- the blonde wig had me completely fooled No matter how hard I study the screen you still look like a female mute, even with Tatar helmet which make much good Tatar wife. Rus make much good wife for Tatar, honorable thing, eat good, warm night.

[HerrSchreck]

Hmm ... keep talking dirty... tu m'excite!

(BTW are you on the big side?? In general, I mean...)

I am not a general, but a mere lieutenant in the Tatar army. And being part of a proud invasion force destined to fall short of the Italian borders in the period of the neorealist movement, it would nonetheless be beneath my station to wangle the panhandling mutts of brokenhearted destitute old Italian pensioners who would stoop so low as to hock finely bound literature for some rank opera land-slut-lady . And my old lady would certainly prefer-- if bestiality will out-- I importune a 5th Avenue saluki. And beware-- you may start out healthy ... but the more you hustle strange trim on the board, DeSica you get.

[HerrSchreck]

I could do worse than dance with Vittorio himself in Madame de.. (BTW I've never been a blonde. Oh, only once and that was a mistake, but I still put out. Frequently...)

Tu veux l'invasion?

Hey, Cesare', letZavattini-weeny little bit of irony on this thread. Everything is so one-layered.

[Steven H]

I seem to be having a slightly different reaction to this film than most. At first, I viewed it as a lesser Melville, it struck me as a Delon film more than anything (I originally preferred him in les Aventuriers, Mr. Klein, le Cercle rouge, and l'Eclisse), and I also got a little bit of a Bertolucci vibe from it (which at the time, turned me off to it even more.) But still, a lesser Melille is still a Melville, and I was weighed down by its merit. The iciness, laid back passive villainy is always striking, and the visual style shares much with Bresson (who I greatly admire), so I felt a little in tune with the music of the film (pun intended, I'll admit it.) But the characters all felt weak, and there were plot points that seemed constructed from nothing (has some have previously mentioned.) It faded from my memory, enjoyable but flawed, and I placed it somewhere down the ladder past Bob and Doulos.

After Criterion rereleased it (didn't bother replacing my Rene edition), and this debate began, I decided I would go back and review it. The plot and the characters no longer matter, and all I'm left with is it's formal, visual and aural, beauty. It seems everything Melville shows us denies our access to any conventional character identification. People hide behind hats, moustaches (fitting that Delon is identified as a man with one), coat lapels, and alibis. This films runs over you like someone wringing a washcloth over your head. It's soothing and captivating. If the plot seems constructed oddly, maybe it's fate pulling Jef along? The film begins in an apartment, and Jef begins his day. There's no joy here, no happiness. He's a murderer who lives outside of society. He's doomed from the start to die, and it's in his look as he leaves. Part of his job is the uncertainty that he may not come back, and that fills the air. There's a little bit of absurdity to the film, the abstract apartment that focuses and refocuses, everyone's reaction to him, as if they've seen a ghost. How many scenes take place outside of Jef's experience? These seem the most "normal", as there's no mysterious figure haunting them, like the living dead, and basically creeping them out. This film (along with les Enfant terribles) is one Melville's great achievments. The negation of identification makes what would seem a conventional genre piece, something that's also, largely, an absurd, ambiguous mystery. I'm still not quite sold on picking up the Criterion... are the extras worth it?

[Dylan]

A very good film. Like “Le Circle Rouge,â€

[GringoTex]

One of several problems I've always had in LE SAMOURAI lay in the scene you mentioned, the railway overpass shooting (I also agree with you regarding admiration for the cutting & shift to hand-held). How could a "samurai" be caught so entirely by surprise in such a dog eat dog business?

They've already paid him a million francs. Why would you give up a million francs to off some hitman? It makes no sense. As the baddies admit themselves when they aknowledge their mistake and offer him three million more for the next job.

You'll note zedz, that my problem with the film lay primarily in those zones which illustrate, in my opinion, a particular naivete on Melville's part for the basic covering operations of street criminals tottering a step or two from the grave or prison-- the way that dangerous and endangered men compartmentalize critical information as a rule, and can never be caught by surprise due to assumption or something as adorably outdated (in that world) as trust(!).

Actually, you seem to be the naive one by assuming that criminals are logical. There's nothing logical about choosing a life of crime. I'm not sure what you know about "dangerous and endangered men," but I'll assume it's primarily been though the movies. Now maybe I'm misinterpreting you, and what you mean is that Mellville fails to reflect the standards of Hollywodd criminals, and if so. I apologize.

[Kinsayder]

I confess to having absolutely no idea what the hell JPM is even talking about vis a vis Jef being a schizo: a couple trackback-zoom in's and now he's a SCHIZO? Because he doesn't want to be diverted from his mission timetable (or cultivate a witness to his movements & presence in a stolen car which may or may not be viewed outside the victim's club) and therefore dismisses the flirtation at the traffic light, we're supposed to construe he's SCHIZO? What in god's name in JPM talking about?

In the Rui Nogueira interview (translated in the Criterion booklet) Melville remarks that all hitmen are, by definition, schizophrenic, and that this was the starting point for the character of Jef. Browsing through the Wikipedia entry for schizophrenia, I'm guessing that the symptoms of the condition that Melville had in mind were the solitude, the abstraction from reality, affective flattening (lack or decline in emotional response) and alogia (lack or decline in speech), among others. Wikipedia even lists "dressing inappropriately" as one of the symptoms (for those who have commented on Jef's sartorial choices before and after the first hit).

In a part of the same interview that Criterion omitted, Melville states that the ritualistic aspects of Jef's behaviour (which would probably be attributed to Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in today's parlance) are also symptoms of an underlying schizophrenia: "...in all schizophrenia, every act is a rite. Moreover, and let's make no mistake about this, any ritual is, in a word, schizophrenic."

Without wanting to labour the point too much, the film itself, with its long silences, its numerous, almost perverse, lapses in logic and its deliberate stylistic abstraction from reality, feels like an invitation to participate in Jef's schizophrenia.

[Gordon]

Obsessive compulsive disorder is a more accurate description of Jef's attitude and behaviour. A successful hitman would probably have to be obsessive in order to accomplish his 'jobs' in an efficient manner. Normally, in films featuring schizophrenic characters (Sally Field in Sybil) the multiple-personality disorder aspect is played up, but schizophrenia can be far more complex and subtle than that. Jef certainly has an obsessive personality, but he does show signs of subtle schizophrenia. Look at how he behaves with the women in the film; he knows that he has to behave in a certain way around them, but it seems artificial. His cumlative behaviour throughout the film doesn't add to up to an 'individuated self' as Jung called it and such a personality must surely be deemed to be schizophrenic. It isn't all about a person thinking they are different 'people' and speaking in different voices. 'Fractured psyche' is another term that might be more appropriate.

I think that in movies, it is easy to just lazily accept hitmen and serial killers as mere archetypes of the Cinema Landscape, but when you break out of that mode of thinking, these types of people are, in reality, deeply distrurbed individuals. This is more obvious with the serial killer, but with the hitman/assassin, the psychological abnormality is often overlooked. What is more sick and indefensible: a man who kills people through fevered compulsion or a man who kills people for money alone? Le samourai isn't a deep psychological study of this problem in society; it is very subtle emotionally and cinematically and is very much a personal film - as are all of Melville's films, regardless of the fact that they are genre films - 'gangster' films; much in the same manner as Truffaut's, Shoot the Piano Player is a personal, intellectual film disguised as an entertaining noir-ish thriller.

L'Aîné des Ferchaux has a similar, subtle plot style, where there is more to the 'tough guy' adventure than meets the eye. Criterion should pick that one up, too at some point, as it has been neglected for too long.

The soundtrack was re-released in December in France, coupled with de Roubaix's score for Robert Enrico and José Giovanni's, Les Aventuriers - also released in 1967 and also a wonderful score by one of the greatest film score composers.

Available HERE, €13.00.

Sample downloads for all tracks are at the bottom of the page - including the 'party' remixes (!) of the main theme from Le Samouraï - fantastique!

[HistoryProf]

Perhaps I let myself get a little too worked up about this film before seeing it due to all the excitement here, but I must confess to being slightly disappointed in Le Samourai. Personally, I think Le Cercle Rouge is simply a better film. There's no denying that Delon's performance is a great one....but overall, it just seemed to be missing something for me. I'd have to concur with the previous poster who considers it a "lesser Melville." It's a very good film, just not the great one I was hoping for.

[daniel p]

Perhaps I let myself get a little too worked up about this film before seeing it due to all the excitement here, but I must confess to being slightly disappointed in Le Samourai. Personally, I think Le Cercle Rouge is simply a better film. There's no denying that Delon's performance is a great one....but overall, it just seemed to be missing something for me. I'd have to concur with the previous poster who considers it a "lesser Melville." It's a very good film, just not the great one I was hoping for.

Interesting view.

I actually saw Le Cercle Rouge before seeing Le Samourai and loved it, moreso than my first viewing of Le Samourai. My second viewing of both changed my opinions completely, and Le Samourai became my preferred film.
On my 3rd viewing of Le Samourai I was in love. One of my favourite films now. The minimalism is what does it for me.
My point is I find Le Samourai more rewarding with multiple viewings, so I suggest you give it another chance one day, if you are willing to.

[HistoryProf]

I'll most certainly give it another view...i like to put some time in between viewings in cases like these and try to come at them fresh. And again, don't get me wrong, i don't think Le Samourai was a bad film by any stretch, I simply enjoyed Le Cercle Rouge more. but then I haven't watched that in a year or so....perhaps a double bill will be in order sometime this winter

[colinr0380]

Jeremy Richey adds some musings on the film to his blog.

[dad1153]

Watched this over the weekend, my first Melville film. The first 40 minutes are outstanding as Jef Costello (Alain Delon) goes about the business of killing his target and establish an alibi with all the calm and demeanor with which you or I go to the store and pick up groceries. On any contemporary hitman movie the first third of "Le Samouraï" would have been cut to a three-minute montage to make room for an action scene or a couple of stunts. The last two thirds of the movie don't live up to the knockout first third (until Costello's ambiguous meeting with his alibi and the 'twist' ending) but on the whole they make a very cinematic experience that is defined by the vulnerability of its lead character. By focusing of the minutiae of Costello's solitary life (loved that dialogue is pared to its absolute, barest essential) Melville shows us a troubled and vulnerable man (the close-ups on Delon's face always show him in a state of worry) that is both in control of his life but also paying the price his lifestyle exerts on him as he lives it. The movie's influence can be felt to this day (Jim Jarmush's "Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai" was the first that came to my mind) but "Le Samouraï" still entertained me on its own merits. François Périer is excellent as the police chief that will not give up until he can nail down Costello by destroying his alibi.

[Galen Young]

Perhaps I should know better than to read books with titles like this; while it's not completely terrible, the author does drop a couple of bombs on me beloved Samourai:

At the beginning of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai, Alan Delon, a hit man, walks out of his apartment building and steals a car. Why would a guy who's that smart steal a car that could belong to someone in his own neighborhood? When he comes home and parks the car, even though he's changed the license plate, the real owner might see it. It's just such a boneheaded thing to do; why not steal the car in a different neighborbood? ...

Watching the DVD of Le Samourai, there are so many scenes of Alan Delon walking up and down long hallways and down streets and up streets and up staircases and down alleys, I finally gave up and zipped through those time-wasting scenes on Fast Forward. If you wrote scenes where characters burn shoe leather, the story will get tighter when you cut them. If the reader wishes she had a Fast Forward button, you're hurting.

I thought he parked the car in a different neighborhood, no? Not sure whether to laugh or cry, but the thought of someone fast-forwarding through Le Samourai drives me fucking crazy!

[dad1153]

Didn't Jef park the first car he stole in another neighborhood not near where he lived? He took a cab right after he ditched his ride. The 2nd car he stole I don't recall if he parked it near his place or not. Oh well, just the excuse I needed to watch the movie again.

[Napier]

William Akers is a douche nozzle.

[HerrSchreck]

You'll note zedz, that my problem with the film lay primarily in those zones which illustrate, in my opinion, a particular naivete on Melville's part for the basic covering operations of street criminals tottering a step or two from the grave or prison-- the way that dangerous and endangered men compartmentalize critical information as a rule, and can never be caught by surprise due to assumption or something as adorably outdated (in that world) as trust(!).

Actually, you seem to be the naive one by assuming that criminals are logical. There's nothing logical about choosing a life of crime. I'm not sure what you know about "dangerous and endangered men," but I'll assume it's primarily been though the movies. Now maybe I'm misinterpreting you, and what you mean is that Mellville fails to reflect the standards of Hollywodd criminals, and if so. I apologize.

Wow-- I just caught this, four years later.

I don't know that this would even catch your attention, Gringo, but if you'd like to I'm more than willing to pick this thread up with you. I still see the same naivete in the film's narrative.

As for "logic", I see little bearing on the discussion at hand-- plus your statement gives off the aroma of a judgement call... i e "to have become a criminal in the first place bespeaks a certain deficit of character, therefore expectation of same within a narrative regarding ones orbit is faulty." The decision to become a criminal can be made out of desperation, out of knowledge of cultivated connections assuring a stacked deck (i e graft, political inroads, police relations, etc), it can be made at a tipping point of grinding poverty leading to complete dissolution on one hand, or the assumption of a certain risk on another (with the result of the assumption of risk via becoming a criminal at least assuring another day of survival)... it can also be made out of circumstances colored by drug addiction, alcoholism, social environment, etc.

There are as many psychological setups behind Lives of Crime as there are human beings in the universe, with examples on display reflecting all the foibles and brilliancies a la any other zone of human endeavor. Saying "there's nothing logical in chosing a life of crime" is like saying "there's nothing logical in becoming a token booth clerk/IT Manager/etc", because the infinitude of human variety that is in the one is in the other. Assuming a psychological defect in criminals is in actuality a dated, unfortunate worldview, as primitive as Dr Waldman in Frankenstein noting the deeesteeenct lack of development in the frontal lobe criminal brain sitting in formaldehyde before his students.

As for whether or not the decision to become a gangster, an organized criminal is-- on the other hand-- a rational one, in some cases it is, and in some cases it isn't. My issue with Jeff is one of expertise-- the supposed level of expertise and aforesight, a ninjalike, utter perfection of readiness and cultivated experience. I'm antipating a level of physical and psychological readiness and expertise-- like Bruce Lee in his seminars.. simply unable to be beaten at close quarters

Re what (I) know about "dangerous and endangered men".. I live in wiseguyland.

[L'amiDeVS]

Special Features

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer

Could this mean there might be a Blu-Ray release in the future?

Please let it be so...

[cdnchris]

Special Features

- New, restored high-definition digital transfer

Could this mean there might be a Blu-Ray release in the future?

Please let it be so...

If you look at the back of most Criterion DVDs they sport "new high-definition digital transfer" in the listing of features. They've done high-def transfers for most of their DVDs. This doesn't neccessarily mean it's getting a Blu-ray release anytime soon.

[Askew]

I just received my brand new copy of Le Samourai from Amazon but it was missing the booklet. Has this been a known problem and is there any way to fix this? Either way it looks like all the ones Amazon sold recently had the same problem since they took it down from their site http://www.amazon.com/Samourai-Criterio ... 702&sr=8-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Le Samourai Blu coming from Pathe France on Dec 7. Hopefully a Criterion won't be far behind. Pathe also announced a restoration of Bernard's Les Mis and Polanski's Tess

[andyli]

Check out the French release... pretty bad I'd say.

[The Narrator Returns]

It looks more like an oil painting than a film.