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Dirty Money (Un Flic)

Due 7-22-08

In this film noir, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Melville’s final film, a Paris police chief (Alain Delon) discovers that his nightclub owner friend (Richard Crenna) also leads a group of bank robbers. When he’s tipped off that the same robbers are planning a drug heist, the police chief races to defeat his two-faced friend. Meanwhile, the police chief has engaged in some double-crossing himself - by sharing the same woman (Catherine Deneuve) with the man he calls his friend. Melville’s last film "plays beautifully with all his trademark silence, grim faces and gloomy colors" (Combustible Celluloid).

Surprised they didn't even bother to construct a box around this one, though it's certainly high profile enough to warrant a single release

domino harvey wrote:Surprised they didn't even bother to construct a box around this one, though it's certainly high profile enough to warrant a single release

I'm quite happy they didn't throw it in with their box of Delon B-movies. I assume we'll see similar releases for Stavisky, Plain Soleil, and The Nun. Do we know if this is part of their Meridian Collection?

The title doesn't bother me too much as long as it pays off. I assume they wouldn't make a change like that unless they think they could sell or rent more copies. At least they didn't call it "A Cop" or even "A Flick."

I don't get their insistence on using dumb English titles that were probably never even used. It's still better than their decision to call Detective The Detective #-o

At least Criterion didn't call Le Samourai The Godson! Talk about " #-o ".

Great news if true though. This is an extremely interesting film (although I don't rate it very highly), and it definitely deserves a better transfer than its gotten so far in R1.

I think it's Melville's best film! It's also the only movie I've ever emailed Criterion about releasing. To see how that turned out, look up

Great film. Glad to see it's getting some kind of release (even if it's under the atrocious English title).

domino harvey wrote:I think it's Melville's best film! It's also the only movie I've ever emailed Criterion about releasing. To see how that turned out, look up

I knew it was your favorite. However, I've never actually really warmed to Le Doulos, Le Deuxieme Souffle, and Un Flic, although I admire each in different ways. Perhaps this was more due to the quality of the transfers that I saw then it does to the film itself though. Un Flic though is as atmospheric and moody as anything Melville made save Le Samourai. That opening heist sequence in the rain is as thrilling as the scene where Deneuve administers the lethal dose is chilling. Neat film.

Though it's not my favourite Melville it contains one of my favourite Melville takes: the three-minute uninterrupted wordless shot of Richard Crenna cleaning and preening himself in the miniscule bathroom during the train heist. Only Melville, and only at that point in his career, could pull that off.

Yunda Eddie Feng likes the film too:

In addition to a story well-told, you also get beautiful shots of the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées.

Beaver says the transfer is basically the same as previous versions.