Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece “Le Samourai” which inspired directors such as John Woo and Quentin Tarentino is simply stylish, suave and a very cool minimalistic film noir!
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TITLE: Le Samourai – The Criterion Collection #306
DURATION: 105 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, 1:85:1 Aspect Ratio, Monaural in French with English Subtitles
COMPANY: The Criterion Collection
RELEASED: 2005
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Based on the novel “The Ronin” by Joan McLeod
Written by Jean Pierre Melville, Georges Pellegrin
Produced by Raymond Borderie, Eugene Lepicier
Music by Francois de Roubaix
Cinematography by Henri Decae
Edited by Monique Bonnot, Yolande Maurette
Production Design by Francois de Lamothe
Set Decoration by Francois de Lamothe
Starring:
Alain Delon as Jef Costello
Francois Perier as The Superintendant
Nathalie Delon as Jane Lagrange
Cathy Rosier as Valerie, the Pianist
Michel Boisrond as Wiener
Robert Favart as Barkeeper
In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays a contract killer with samurai instincts. A razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture—with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology—maverick director Jean-Pierre Melville’s masterpiece Le Samouraï defines cool.
“Melville is God to me. ‘Le Samourai’ was the first of his films that I saw. In fact, it changed a whole generation of filmgoers.” – John Woo
“Le Samourai”, considered as one of Jean-Pierre Melville’s top films and a stylish and minimalistic take on film noir. The film that inspired many including John Woo who has said his masterpiece “The Killer” was a tribute to “Melville” and have used certain scenes in his own films to pay homage to “Le Samourai”.
Jean-Pierre Melville, the director known for directing films such as “Les Enfants terribles”, “Bob le flambeur”, “Le Doulos” and later “Le Cercle rouge” would create his masterpiece “Le Samourai” in 1967. The title of the film to describe a lone tiger in the jungle, the film about a hitman named Jef Costello (played by Alain Delon, “L’Eclisse”, “Mr. Klein”, “Mort d’un pourri”, “Notre histoire”) who is hired to kill a nightclub owner.
Jef is a perfectionist and lives a simple life. He is the best at what he does and in this situation, he goes into the packed nightclub and kills the nightclub owner. But through the process of going to the nightclub, he had been seen by many of the nightclub staff (even when wearing his fedora) and most being seen by the pianist Valerie (played by Cathy Rosier).
Despite leaving the club, losing the weapon and not getting caught, the police go after anyone who is wearing a fedora and trenchcoat and thus Jef is brought into the police station. All wearing a trench coat and fedora must go through an interview process by the police and also must be seen by the nightclub staff to see if one of them is the killer. Because a few nightclub staff think that Jef may be involved, the police superintendent (played by Francois Perier) believes Jef is the killer. But Jef has an airtight alibi with his girlfriend Jane (played by Nathalie Delon) and the pianist Valerie even tells police that he is not the man (despite knowing that he is the person responsible) and thus is let go.
After being released from police custody, he goes to his meet the people who arranged for the hit and collect his money but upon meeting one of the men, it appears that they are not to thrilled that Jef was held and questioned by the police and thus, the man shoots Jef but not killing him.
Now Jef wants revenge against the people who hired him but with the police trying to watch and spy on his every move, Jef needs to use his skills in order to avoid being caught by the police and also the people who want him dead.
VIDEO:
“Le Samourai” is presented in 1:85:1 aspect ratio. For a 1967 film, “Le Samourai” looks very good and I saw no blemishes, major artifacting on the film. The cinematography by Henri Decae captures the stoic look of Jef Costello and his non-emotion. From beginning to end, Jef Costello shows no sadness, no happiness, he’s the same man who lives life the same as when he kills someone.
It’s important to note that Melville was a director that doesn’t want to situate his characters in time and didn’t want the characters to be representative of 1968, nor did he want to be a documentarian or re-create life during that time period. In his words “a film is first and foremost a dream; and it’s absurd to copy life in an attempt to produce an exact re-creation of it.”
According to the Criterion Collection, the high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from teh 35mm original camera negative and 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Le Samourai” is presented in monaural French. According to the Criterion Collection, the soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from the 35mm magnetic audio track and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle Overall, dialogue is clear and as for the subtitles, they are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Le Samourai – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #306” comes with the following special features:
- Authors on Melville: Rui Nogueira – (13:00) Nogueira talks about meeting Melville, his direction, offering Delon the role of Jef Costello and the summit of Melville’s art.
- Authors on Melville: Ginette Vincendeau – (18:42) Vincendeau talks about the precursor to the New Wave, control and minimalism, Belmondo to Delon, origins of Le Samourai and more.
- The Lineup – (24:12) Featuring various interviews with director Jean-Pierre Melville, actors Alain Delon, Nathalie Delon, Cathy Rosier, Francois Perier and also clips from the Institut National de L’Audiovisuel, Paris from 1967-1982. Also, included is the news clip when Melville’s studio was burned down and his response that it may have been due to arson by rival studios.
- The Trailer – (50:37) The original theatrical trailer for “Le Samourai”.
- 34-Page Booklet – Featuring the essay “Death in White Gloves” by David Thomson, “The Melville Style” by John Woo and “Melville on Le Samourai”, an excerpt from “Melville on Melville” by Rui Nogueira.
“Le Samourai” is a film that is not difficult to enjoy. It’s rather a simple film but its the presentation that captures your attention. Where hit men are typically not the main focal point of a film, Jean-Pierre Melville’s “Le Samourai” focuses on giving the viewer a chance to see an unperturbed hitman, methodical, cool and in Melville’s words…a schizophrenic.
Alain Delon is simply fantastic as Jef Costello. His style as the cool and suave hitman is on one side visual, but when it comes to the performance, Costello is not trying to be ravishing, nor is he trying to be anything. The man is stoic and expressionless. Like a lone samurai, this is where the title of the film is derived. He is paid to kill and even though he is a skilled hitman, you wonder what he does with the money he has made throughout the years. His home shows no sense of any luxury but a bird in its cage, a bed, a chair and a fridge. He doesn’t own the best cars, he drives stolen cars and carries around a hold carrying many keys which can be used to break into a car or home.
There is definitely a sense of style when it comes to “Le Samourai”, much different than many of the American film noir that most have been accustomed to seeing. And again, it is not that Jef Costello is trying to show off that he has style but its the man Alain Delon as Jef Costello that truly shines with the lost expression, donning the fedora, black or beige trenchcoat, black tie, white shirt and at times, wearing the white gloves when making the kill. There are no cracked jokes, there are no James Bond flirtations with the beautiful women in the film. It’s a whole different type of character 0ne is not used to seeing on film and “Le Samurai” proved to a be a wonderful hybrid of French and American cinema.
The Criterion Collection presentation is well-done as the DVD contains wonderful interviews looking back on Melville’s career and “Le Samourai” but also interviews with the talent around that time (especially the day of the burning of Melville’s studio). But I have no doubt that the booklet with John Woo’s essay about how Melville and “Le Samourai” changed his life will be of amazing interest to Melville and Woo fans.
Overall, “Le Samourai” is probably one of Melville’s most accessible and entertaining films. Definitely a Criterion Collection DVD worth checking out!