Le Samourai (1967)

 Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai"


At the crossroads between the French Nouvelle Vague and the New Hollywood movements lies one particular film: 1967's "Le Samourai." Of course, its eccentricities play in certain New Wave arena, but the film was far more influential overseas in America, where it was used for many templates of aesthetic for certain New Hollywood pictures. "Le Samourai" is a film that has been re-modeled and its visual style used time and time again, making it one of the more influential films to come out of an already potent decade.

The film centers on a hitman named Jef Costello. He lives in a single-room Paris apartment and keeps only a small bird as any sort of engagement. After carrying out the contract killing of a nightclub owner, he is brought in by the police as a suspect. However, the alibi created by Jef is airtight, along with the added benefit of one of the witnesses claiming that it wasn't him. However, the police commissioner knows it was him, and stops at nothing to continue watching and following Jef. All the while, Jef must evade being killed by those who hired him.

Despite its moniker as a 'crime thriller,' "Le Samourai" operates with a certain style and grace that differentiates itself from the typical excitements of the genre. This comes primarily from the coolness of its protagonist, who acts with a stillness and calmness. This uncanny sense of purpose and quiet intensity has gone on to inspire innumerable characters, with a litany of directors taking inspiration from Martin Scorsese to Francis Ford Coppola.

The visual environment and tone of the film then stems from our protagonist's cool and collected stoicism. We move through the film with a stylistic ease unlike anything else. There are numerous moments of still, quiet moments. Even when there is marked 'action,' it moves with style and intentional grace. 

The mise-en-scene is styled with such an artistic intentionality. Every frame looks visually striking and has a certain aesthetic symmetry. This level of production quality reminds me of certain visual looks in films like "The Conformist" and "The Godfather," both of which would come later. 

As for the thematic points to be made about "Le Samourai," there doesn't appear to be a profundity. However, as Jef continues to be hassled and followed by the police, the film takes on a certain thematic point about surveillance states. This is something that Coppola would try to echo in "The Conversation," which he cites "Le Samourai" as a direct influence.

All in all, "Le Samourai" is a slick neo-noir that doesn't disappoint in the arena of entertainment, especially for something in the crime genre. It moves with a coolness - a coolness repeatedly mimicked in films to come. Given that Melville doubled down on his aesthetic and love of the crime genre in the late 1960s, "Le Samourai" represents the pinnacle of his career and style. 



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