Le Samourai

Ever since becoming a freemale, I have been watching films nearly every night. There are many good ones, the trouble is, my memory is failing me faster than I dare to admit, and there are many a time, especially when the titles are not in English, the DVD on the player is something I have watched not too long ago.

After watching Second Breath by Jean-Pierre Melville, I checked my 'bible' (getting old quickly)' and learnt that the best one from the director was one in his last period with Alain Denon. Since I had no recollection of any of them, I picked up the film from the library and played it last night.

The credit sequence reminded me some of the earlier films by Wong Kai, especially The Days of Being Wild: in a dim room, nothing seems to be happening, except a ray of smoke rising from, a bed, in the centre of a room, on which there seems to be lying a body. The camera reminds static during the whole sequence, and the decor of the room becomes increasingly, as significant as the smoke: though its walls is green, it is not a colour that symbolises life and energy, but more that of decadence and resignation, as if the life of it has been sucked away by time, nature's and paper.

I started to wonder if I might have watched it when I heard the bird chirping, and indeed, once the credit sequence was over and a face was shown, my memory returned.

Like those early films by Sergio Leone that feature a young Clint Eastwood, or Hombre, featuring Paul Newman playing a white man raised by Indians, the film is scarce in dialogues (except when the police chief is on), and the settings, except that in the night club rather rustic, realistic and gritty. It is a film that has its heart set in its character and with a strong sense of style. Or shall we say, a man's film?

Interestingly, the colour of the wall in the opening sequence appears to change its tone with the change of light: for when the curtain is drawn, or the lights are switched on, the greenish wall turns grey, which makes the spartan apartment look even more bare and haunted. And in such a setting, the bird in the cage looks like an illicit orphan deserted by a well-off family. But of course, by the way it is being cared for, it is hinted early on that it is not there just for companionship. It is a security device for its owner.

I cannot place where I saw the actor who plays the policy chief, he is, like those typical French actors, handsome and eloquent. His endless talks and the elaborate manipulation to tail the protagonist though serves only to highlight the contrast between them: a policeman with a 'safe' job who can tred on the line of legal and illegal, and a 'lone wolf' who is on the wrong side of the law. The protagonist who barely speaks, act professionally, guided apparently by instinct. The night club pianist player is also impressive, she looks cool and has an unforgettable face.

But the cream of it all, regardless of his disclosed status of being thief and later, a cold blooded professional killer, is Alain Denon. I have seen him in L'eclisse with Monica Vitte, he is competent there, but it is in this film he looks in his element: a cool handsome face that you just want to put in your own hands, and wouldn't mind risking your life for the sake of its owner. When we saw him at the opening sequence leaving his unglamorous place, he did little with his body, but his eyes say all: the consciousness of being constantly in danger and under surveillance (it turns out both by police and his employers), his calculation whether it is a good time to strike (to steal a car parking by the road) are all written in that turn of his eyes without moving his head. And besides, the trench coat looks great on him!

I have found another title by the same director which also features Alain Denon. I am looking forward to it.

P.S.
Watched 'A cop' last night, an anti-climax to Le Samourai. Yes, Alain Denon played the title role, but the film's focus, as in Second Breath and Le Samourai from the same director, is actually the gangster, the cop's friend Simon with whom they are also rivals in love. The film starts with a seaside town bank robbery, and in the middle of it, a train robbery with detailed portraits of how meticulous and daring the gangster is, who also happens to be knowledgable, decisive and glamourous, while the cop in comparison looks sheer bored, and shallow.

A commentator remarks that the young Alain Denon has a rare and contradictory combination of 'saintly grace' and 'the elegance of a modern young man', but added that 'by 40', his look begins to blur. Le Samourai was made in his mid-30s, and his looks fit that description perfectly. But 'A cop' was made before he turned 40, and his look has already 'blurred'. I wonder why? Is it because he is more suitable for playing characters from the underworld than that represents the law? Or is it more to do with Jean-Pierre Melville? I cannot recall if I have watched his other works, but the three I have are all gangster ones and that the underworld usually features more heavily and in a sense 'positively' by either being loyal to their pals or unusually 'heroic' in their acts. Indeed, not only they have admirers in attractive young ladies, but also in the police chief/superintendant who want to get on top of their criminal acts.