Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9781567301342
Format: Color
ISBN: 1567301347
Label: Artists International
Manufacturer: Artists International
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Artists International
Release Date: 2000-06-27
Running Time: 101
Studio: Artists International
Theatrical Release Date: 1967

Alain Delon is the coolest killer to hit the screen, a film noir loner for the modern era, in Jean-Pierre Melville's austere 1967 French crime classic. Delon's impassive hit man, Jef Costello, is the ultimate professional in an alienated world of glass and metal. On his latest contract, however, he lets a witness live--a charming jazz pianist, Valerie (Cathy Rosier), who neglects to identify him in the police lineup. When Costello survives an assassination attempt by his employers, he carefully plots his next moves as cops and criminals close in and he prepares for one last job. Melville meticulously details every move by Costello and the police in fascinating wordless sequences, from Costello's preparations for his first hit to the cops' exhaustive efforts to tail Jef as he lines up his last; and his measured pace creates an otherworldly ambiance, an uneasy calm on the verge of shattering. Costello remains a cipher, a zen killer whose façade begins to crack as the world seems to be collapsing in on him, exposing the wound-up psyche hidden behind his blank face. Melville rethinks film noir in modern terms, as an existential crime drama in soft, somber color and sleek images (courtesy of cinematographer extraordinaire Henri Decaë). Le Samouraï inspired two pseudo-remakes, Walter Hill's Driver and John Woo's Killer, but neither film comes close to the compelling austerity and meticulous detail of Melville's cult masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Rating:
Summary: Supremely cool French gangster movie
Comment: One of the better gangster movies out there, Le Samourai has gotten the royal treatment from the Criterion Collection with an excellent DVD packaging. Jef Costello is a hired killer, calm, cool and collected who does his job and does it well. He plans every last detail so that nothing can go wrong, but on one hit he's brought in as a suspect by the Paris police. Costello kills a club owner and because he's brought in by the police, the men who hired him want to kill him so there's connection to them. What follows is a cat and mouse game as Costello seeks revenge while trying to stay out of the grips of the French police. Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, this film doesn't have a wasted moments, every shot and line of dialogue serves a purpose. It's by no means an action movie, but what makes the movie so strong is the tension it creates right from the very beginning to the last scene which completely caught me off guard. But action or not, it's a great movie that shouldn't be missed.

In maybe his best role, Alain Delon is perfect as Jef Costello, a hired killer who always gets the job done thanks to his patience and coolness under pressure. It's a very cool part, very stylized, and Delon perfectly underplays the part with very little emotion throughout. François Périer is Delon's perfect oppposite as the Paris police superintendent so desperately trying to catch Costello and break his alibi. Delon's wife Nathalie is good as Jane Lagrange, Costello's girlfriend who sets up a perfect alibi for him to help show her feelings toward him. Cathy Rosier plays Valerie, a pianist who saw Jef leave the scene of the murder but has some alterior motives as to whether she'll turn him in.

The Criterion Collection DVD does not disappoint (have they ever?) with a cleaned-up widescreen presentation that looks great. Special features include two authors discussing the making of the movie and Melville's and Delon's involvement in the film, about 20 minutes of interviews from the late 60s and early 70s with the cast and crew and a trailer. All in all, an enjoyable, different take on the gangster movie with a great performance from Alain Delon in the lead. Give Le Samourai a try!

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Melvillian Ganster Movie
Comment: Fine transfer of one of Melville's ganster movies. Alain Delon draws his gun faster than the eye! Stylish and hilarious and set in an imaginary Paris, this is not at all a realistic movie - but it is simply excellent.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Very stylish; very cool; very worthy of your time...
Comment: First things first; `Le Samourai' is a very, very cool movie. The vibe is just so fluid and stirring; you can't help but become one with the mood that is set by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville. The first sequence alone is utter perfection; contract killer Jef Costello sprawled out across his bed, puffs of cigarette smoke rising to the ceiling and a lonely birdcage resting in the center of the room, the only sound being the constant and sporadic chirping of the frantic bird within its bars. The scene just got me so excited; instantly connected and longing for the film to proceed.

And proceed it did.

The film follows Jef Costello as he carries out a murder and then contends with double-crossing as well as an overzealous police detective. Costello promised a problem free hit, but when he leaves a witness alive his employers feel that he breached their contract, so they attempt to take his life. Narrowly escaping death, Costello decides to go after his employer, but this means enlisting the help of the said witness Valerie, a young and beautiful pianist. While he strikes a relationship with her, the Police Detective assigned to the murder begins to press firmly in on Costello, trying to force confessions out of the ones closest to him; most notably his girlfriend Jane.

Melville does an outstanding job of keeping the pace and capturing pure tension, utilizing his surroundings to stir up emotions within the audience. I love films that work with silence, because I feel that feelings in general are felt and not heard. By just watching the facial expressions on a man's (or woman's) face; by watching the way their body moves in relation to what he sees can help instill raw emotion within us. `Le Samourai' does this to the extreme. The opening scene is proof in the pudding, but there are many scenes where dialog is non-existent, the audience being allowed to truly connect to the mind of the characters as apposed to their mouths.

Performance wise this film is very strong. First and foremost one must recognize Alain Delon's masterful performance as Jef. He has such a calm and restrained demeanor that adds layers to his characters development. He allows us to truly understand who he is and why he does what it is that he does. Francois Perier also does an outstanding job as the Police Detective hot on his trail. He captures the zeal and determination behind his characters every move and action. Caty Rosier is stunning and endearing as Valerie. There is an air of mystery surrounding her character that she embellishes perfectly, creating a sense of longing in the viewer as he or she desires to learn more about her. To me though, the knockout performance comes from Nathalie Delon who plays Jef's girlfriend and alibi Jane. There is one scene in particular, when she is confronted in her apartment by Perier's character, that really solidifies my feelings for her. This is the greatest scene of dialog in the film, and the two actors embody their emotions magically; Delon in particular just ravishing the scene.

`Le Samourai' is a magnificent film, part gangster film, part film noir; and if you look close enough it is definitely part Samaria film. The acting is top notch, the direction is top notch and the script is expertly woven to draw in the audience and never let them go.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Greatest Film Noir--Melville's Masterpiece
Comment: Melville's masterpiece on solitude remains perhaps the greatest film noir ever made with the coolly stylish and icily detached cinematography of Henri Decae capturing a series of gray, rainy day tableaux upon which Alain Delon wanders as the quintessential existential loner--a meditative assassin in love with death.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Melville: Génie de l'ambiance
Comment: Alain Delon fait une de ces meilleures performance. Le James Bonds «mauvais garçon» français par excellence. Dans ce film, Alain Delon joue le rôle d'un tueur à gage, un peu (beaucoup) frimeur qui va jusqu'à mettre des gants blancs lorsqu'il commet un meurtre. Il vit dans l'anonymat, est un véritable chat noir impossible a voir au milieu de la nuit et subtil pendant le jour. L'intérêt du film, à mon humble avis, n'est vraiment pas l'histoire qui en somme est un film noir typique où l'histoire est facile a prévoir. Le génie du film c'est l'esthétique, l'ambiance, les jeux de caméras, d'angles et bien sur la facile qu'à Alain Delon de s'accomoder d'un parreil rôle. La reconstitution du film qui aurait pu être un film de Gangster américain des années 30's est vraiment bien reconstitué. L'ambiance jazz, les longues pouffées de cigarettes qui nous rappelle le côté cool de fumer. Les long regard entre Delon et la joueuse de pianos...tous est là pour créer une ambiance sexy et noire.
Un très bon film a possédé dans sa collection

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