Rent Le Samouraï (1967)

Going to Night-Clubs in 1960s Paris, Always a Bit Dodgy - Le Samouraï review by The REAL Film Cricket

If you are ever wondering what a good example of style over substance would be, then Le Samourai would be it. I don’t mean this in a derogatory manner either because it is clear the film, the script/screenplay, the acting was first and foremost meant to project, promote if you like, a style of film, a mood, something that would make you say ‘Ah it’s one of those movies’ and it worked beyond all expectations.

Jean-Pierre Melville allows scenes to sit in silence before his protagonists do anything; his main one played by the handsome Delon, hardly speaks for the first third of the film and hardly for the rest. This is a risk and went against the grain of most films of the time and since to be honest. Basil Exposition was clearly not born at the time Le Samourai was made and those watching it have to concentrate, figure out what is going on, all the while no one on screen explains it to them. For me, this is nirvana.

Another great point made by Melville’s story, clearly, he was influenced by the noir of the 40s and 50s from the USA, is no one is likeable, no one is a hero. Jo Costello, played with relish, but not showy relish, by Delon, does not really have friends, male or female, uses people for his own ends and kills people for money. The police, clearly hardworking, are not beyond prodding people and doing ‘favours’ to get their way.

There are some clearly stupid things done by characters and although some might think it is a fault of the screenplay, I have a feeling that Melville and his fellow writers, Joan McLeod and Georges Pellegrin, made Costello do foolish things that made the audience go ‘huh?’ Perfect in my mind.

But as I have stated, the story is not the important part, it is the style, the look and the feel of La Samourai that is important. Melville clearly had his influences but just one viewing of this film and you can reel off at least hundreds of well-known later films that have lifted characters, looks, even plot-points from this French/Italian crime-noir. Many famous and talented directors directly reference the film when interviewed or through their own work.

I was particularly enamoured with Nathalie Delon’s character, Jane, who provided the false alibi for her husband’s, at the time, character being strong and tough in front of provocation and lies, realising they were lies. This film was made in 1967, remember. Some directors could do with watching Le Samourai to see how a ‘lady of the night’ can still be a character in a story without resorting to the stereotypical norms.

François Périer the opposite side of the same coin as Alan Delon’s character is equally as good, seemingly professional and on top of the case, he realises that Costello is the murderer and will do anything to collar him, bending the rules as he sees fit, all the while presenting a professional and clean-cut visage.

I have to say I love seeing the well-shot and grubby cinematography in Paris too, not romanticism here.

Le Samourai is an immensely popular and loved film from the minute it turned up on the screens in the 1960s until now. Does it have problems or faults? Sure, the story is not the greatest, the mistakes professional hitman played by Delon makes are laughable bad, characters are flat and are what they are on the screen, you can’t imagine them having a life leading to the film’s story and in particular the final scene is both implausible and at odds with the preceding build up.

But, and it is a big but, did I like Le Samourai? Yes, I did, just looking at Paris from fifty-eight years ago made me smile, both Delons cheered me up and so many scenes made me chuckle ironically. It was great, and even if it does not sound like the sort of film you think you like or normally watch, I recommend watching this at least once before you go to the last nightclub we all go to