Second Breath (1966)

One Last Job - Second Breath review by griggs

Melville made over a dozen films, but really he just kept telling one story: a lone criminal, his own strict code, a slow walk toward some doomed, honourable ending. This is that story again, just tighter than usual.

It’s soaked in noir, obviously, but there’s something else going on too. Some of the framing looks like it wandered in from an old pre-code gangster picture, the sort of shot you’d get in Little Caesar or The Public Enemy, maybe even Scarface – not that one. Stark, boxy, almost theatrical. Shouldn’t work next to all that noir shadow. Does anyway.

Lino Ventura plays Gu, who busts out of prison and, of course, gets talked straight into the one last job. Nobody in this film has ever meant “last” in their life. Paul Meurisse’s Inspector Blot is the one closing in on him — sharp suit, sharper patience, the kind of cop who looks three moves ahead and mildly bored about it.

Then there’s the heist — barely a word spoken, stretched out until my shoulders were up round my ears. Best thing in the film, easily.

Nobody here is likeable, and Melville doesn’t care.