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Aug 24, 2015 · The Essentials: The 10 Greatest Jean-Pierre Melville Films. By Nikola Grozdanovic. August 24, 2015 2:35 pm. When sifting through the catalogue of illustrious French filmmakers, the pioneers...
- Nikola Grozdanovic
- Jean-Pierre Melville
- Senior List Writer
- 'Le Samouraï' (1967) IMDb Score: 8/10. This minimalist masterpiece epitomizes the cool elegance of French noir. Alain Delon turns in perhaps his most iconic performance as the enigmatic hitman Jef Costello, armed with his fedora, trench coat, and samurai code.
- 'Army of Shadows' (1969) IMDb Score: 8.1/10. Army of Shadows is Melville's portrait of the French resistance, loosely based on real events and informed by his own years in the movement.
- 'The Red Circle' (1970) IMDb Score: 7.9/10. The Red Circle is the most accomplished of Melville's heist movies. Corey (Alain Delon), recently released from prison, teams up with Vogel (Gian Maria Volonté), an escaped prisoner, and Jansen (Yves Montand), an alcoholic ex-cop, to rob a jewelry store.
- 'Bob le flambeur' (1956) IMDb Score: 7.6/10. Bob le flambeur (English title: Bob the Gambler) is one of Melville's funnier noir films, this time focusing on charismatic and aging gambler Bob Montagné (Roger Duchesne).
- 10 Bob Le Flambeur
- 9 Les Enfants Terribles
- 8 Un Flic
- 7 Le Silence de La Mer
- 6 Léon Morin, Priest
- 5 Two Men in Manhattan
- 4 Le Doulos
- 3 La Cercle Rouge
- 2 Army of Shadows
- 1 Le Samouraï
Before Breathless, there was Bob le flambeur (or Bob the Gambler). Melville’s heist film is considered a precursor to the French New Wave for its use of handheld cameras and jump cut editing. This film twists the traditional leading man characteristic of film noir by using a middle-aged, not incredibly good-looking or well-known actor in the leadin...
After the success of his debut film, Melvile caught the eye of French legend Jean Cocteau, who commissioned him to direct an adaptation of Les Enfants terribles. A story of jealousy and control follows two siblings isolated from the world who engage in a series of mischievous mind games. A unique entry in Melville’s filmography finds him operating ...
In his final film, the Parisian director trades his cynical and cold approach for an overcomplicated plot while retaining some formal aspects of his prior work. Alain Delon, who had previously appeared as a criminal in Melville’s films, is a cop in Un flic. This story follows his pursuit of a thief who is extremely hard to pin down, and who is also...
Based on a clandestinely published novel in 1942 and distributed through the French Resistance through the war, La Silence de la meris the story of an old man and his niece who make the conscious decision to ignore the billeted Nazi officer who shares their home in occupied France. Related: How Film Noir Reflected Society After World War II A maste...
Melville’s 1950s films heavily inspired early French New Wave cinema, and in return, Melville took one of the movement’s faces, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and stripped him of all the coolness he exuded in Breathless, putingt in him in soutane for Léon Morin, Priest. In the film, Belmondo’s titular character engages in spiritual dialogue with a lapsed Cath...
Melville’s only lead acting performance comes from his reverence to the city of New York and the American films that initially inspired him. Two Men in Manhattan follows two French journalists looking for a disappeared United Nations diplomat and their ensuing involvement in a criminal plot surrounding said disappearance. Despite being the director...
Le Douloswould mark the beginning of Melville’s peak period. His full directorial capabilities are here shown with a detail-oriented approach to lives of criminals and law enforcement. The film is about a gangster who might or might not be an informant to the police. In his first full-on delve into the psyche of those dedicated to illicit activitie...
In his penultimate feature, Melville brings up one of his greatest works about the criminal psyche and existential dread. The Red Circle brings together French screen legends Alain Delon and Yves Montand in a jewelry heist story crowned by one of cinema’s finest robbery sequences. Related: The Best Movies of the French New Wave, Ranked Melville’s l...
In his most personal film, Melville depicts the hard and obscure lives of the French Resistance under the Nazi occupation of their country. As a former Resistance member himself, Melville draws from his personal life and from Joseph Kessel’s book from which the film is adapted, to carefully recount the fear, paranoia and complications faced by the ...
The definition of cool. Jean-Pierre Melville's definitive work is an unglamorous depiction of crime, a perfect slice of film noir, and overall is Alain Delon’s consecrating performance. In Le Samouraï, he plays Jef Costello, a baby-faced killer for hire trying to find who hired him for his last job and is subsequently trying to kill him. His assass...
- Le Samouraï (1967) “Le Samouraï” is a 1967 French crime film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon in the lead role. The film tells the story of a professional hitman named Jef Costello, who is tasked with assassinating a nightclub owner but finds himself on the run from both the police and his own employers after being betrayed.
- Army of Shadows (1969) “Army of Shadows” is a 1969 film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, set in German-occupied France during World War II. The film follows the story of a group of French Resistance fighters as they struggle to maintain their resistance against the Nazi regime, while facing personal conflicts and ethical dilemmas.
- Bob le Flambeur (1956) “Bob le Flambeur” is a classic of French cinema and one of the most iconic films of Jean-Pierre Melville’s career. The film tells the story of Bob Montagné (Roger Duchesne), a retired gambler and criminal who is lured back into the world of crime by a group of younger criminals who want to rob a casino in Deauville.
- Le Cercle Rouge (1970) “Le Cercle Rouge” is a 1970 French crime film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Alain Delon, Yves Montand, and Gian Maria Volontè.
Aug 24, 2015 · So dim the lights, pour yourself an inappropriate amount of whiskey and explore these 10 must-see Melville films. “La Silence de la Mer” (1949) This debut feature is a distant relative to the atmospheric crime films that would ultimately carve his name among the greats, yet even so, “La Silence de la Mer” is vital in any conversation ...
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Aug 24, 2015 · 4. “Les Enfants Terrible” (1950) If his first film has little relation to his gangster pics, “Les Enfants Terribles” is a complete stranger in Melville’s oeuvre, a deformed statue looming gloomily amongst his collection of more refined sculpture. But, what compelling gloom!
6 titles. 1. Second Wind (1966) Not Rated | 150 min | Crime, Drama. 7.9. Rate. A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in. Director: Jean-Pierre Melville | Stars: Lino Ventura, Paul Meurisse, Raymond Pellegrin, Christine Fabréga. Votes: 6,537.
