Melville's cunning neo-noir

Le Doulos (1962)

Back to the BFI films. Next one was another great noir from Jean-Pierre Melville. I'm not going to tell anything about the story as it's one of those "less you know is better" so you could get the full thrill of the movie. Needless to say it's superbly done, beautiful shot and witty as you'd expect from Melville. There's some scenes of which film makers even today would be green of envy as they are so brilliantly crafted. The interrogation scene for example is one which is so close to brilliance I was simply stunned. The movie has more dialog than you'd expect in a Melville movie, but it certainly doesn't take anything away from it. It's still somehow beautifully muted yet quite striking. Not the best from Melville, but up there on the top of his films. Can't really say anything more, it's still a masterpiece in it's genre and a must see for every noir fan out there.
93%

Viva la resistance

L'Armee Des Ombres (1969)

Next one on the pile of BFI movies was Jean-Pierre Melville's take on the French resistance during the second world war. As always the movie looks stunning and the tense atmosphere is almost touchable. It's not the usual picture for Melville as this movie has quite a bit of dialog, but the muted noirish style is still present. It has a weird level of realism which at parts seems to become almost surreal. One of my favourite of Melville and all in all a lesson in atmospheric film making. A classic masterpiece.
98%

A French take on the American crime movie

Le Cercle rouge (1970)

Next one from the BFI films was Jean-Pierre Melville's classic heist movie. I had already seen this one many times and was about time I could retire my old crappy VHS version of it. Well not much to say about this, it's a brilliant noirish crime thriller that stands time perfectly. There's a few odd scenes I don't like as they seem to be a bit forced into the plot, like the two hitmen on the country road for example. But those don't matter so much as the movie is really stunning in all other parts. I especially love the coolly muted cinematography which brings it the dark noirish tone. Quite simply a masterpiece with a few dents on it.
90%