Le Samouraï

From Justapedia, unleashing the power of collective wisdom
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Le Samouraï
File:LeSamourai.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJean-Pierre Melville
Screenplay by
  • Jean-Pierre Melville
  • Georges Pellegrin[1]
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyHenri Decaë
Edited by
  • Monique Bonnot
  • Yo Maurette
Music byFrançois de Roubaix
Production
companies
  • Filmel
  • Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématograp
  • Fida Cinematografica
  • T.C. Productions[1][2]
Distributed by
  • S.N. Prodis (France)[1]
  • Fida Cinematografica (Italy)[3]
Release date
  • 25 October 1967 (1967-10-25)
Running time
105 minutes
Countries
  • France
  • Italy[2]
LanguageFrench
Box office1.9 million admissions (France)[4]
$39,481 (US re-release)[5]

Le Samouraï (French pronunciation: ​[lə sa.mu.ʁa.i]; lit. 'The Samurai'), is a 1967 neo-noir crime thriller film[6] written and directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. The film follows a professional hitman named Jef Costello who is identified by witnesses and his efforts to provide himself with an alibi that drive him further into a corner. The film stars Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon and Cathy Rosier.

The film was released on 25 October 1967 and received positive reviews praising Melville's screenwriting and atmospheric direction and Delon's performance. The film grossed over 1.9 million admissions in France.[7] An English-dubbed version was released in the U.S. in 1972 as The Godson, apparently to capitalize on the success of The Godfather.

Plot

Impassive hitman Jef Costello lives in a single-room Paris apartment whose spartan furnishings include a small bird in a cage. Costello's methodical modus operandi involves creating airtight alibis, including ones provided by his lover, Jane. After carrying out a contract killing on a nightclub owner, Jef is seen leaving the scene by the club's piano player Valérie and several witnesses, but their testimonies are contradictory. After rounding up numerous suspects, including Jef, the police superintendent firmly believes Costello is the culprit.

Costello loses a police tail and goes to collect his fee from an intermediary sent by his employers. When the man shoots and wounds Costello, Jef realizes that the police investigation has compromised him with his employers. After treating his wound, Costello returns to the nightclub and meets Valérie, who takes him to her home. Though he is grateful, he wonders why she lied to the police when she clearly saw him after the murder. Meanwhile, police officers bug his room, agitating the bird in its cage. Upon returning, Costello notices some loose feathers scattered around the cage and the bird acting strangely. Suspecting an intrusion, he searches his room, finds the bug and deactivates it.

The police search Jane's apartment and offer her a deal: withdraw her dubious alibi for Costello and they will leave her alone. She rejects the offer. Back in his apartment, Costello is ambushed by the intermediary, who pays him off and offers him another contract. Costello overpowers him and forces him to disclose the identity of his boss, Olivier Rey.

Several undercover officers attempt to tail Costello in the Métro but he loses them. He visits Jane and assures her that everything will work out, then drives to Rey's home, which turns out to be where Valérie also lives. Costello kills Rey and returns to the nightclub, this time making no attempt to conceal his presence. He checks his hat but leaves his hat-check ticket on the counter and puts on white gloves, which he wears during his kills, in full view of everyone. He approaches the stage where Valérie plays piano. She quietly advises him to leave but he pulls out his gun and aims it at her. As she asks Costello why he is doing this, he responds that he is being paid for the job. Three policemen reveal themselves and shoot Costello dead. When the superintendent inspects Costello's gun, he finds it empty.

Cast

Production

Meville wrote the film for Delon.[8] This was the first film for Delon's wife, Nathalie. He filed for divorce after the film wrapped, but they terminated their divorce proceedings a few days later. The couple divorced in June 1968 and their divorce became official in February 1969. Nathalie was granted custody of their son, Anthony.[9] François Périer, who played the police inspector, was a comedian cast against type. Melville's private film studio, Studio Jenner, was destroyed by fire while Le Samouraï was shooting early in July 1967. Melville, who termed the blaze "suspicious", moved the production to another studio.[10]

Alternate ending

In an interview with Rui Nogueira, Melville stated that he had originally filmed Costello meeting his death with a picture-perfect grin. The scene was changed after Melville angrily discovered that Delon had a smiling death scene in another of his films. Production stills of the smiling death exist.

Release and reception

Le Samourai was released on 25 October 1967. It received positive reviews with praise for Melville's screenwriting and direction, Delon's performance and atmosphere. It holds a 100% rating at Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews from critics, and a rating average of 8.4/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Le Samouraï makes the most of its spare aesthetic, using stylish – and influential – direction, solid performances, and thick atmosphere to weave an absorbing story."[11]

Writing of the Delons' performances in Le Figaro, Bertrand Guyard notes husband and wife are both nearly silent but "their gazes, fraught with meaning, are enough to thrill the camera" with the director drawing from their portrayals "a mythical couple in the seventh art."[12]

The film was ranked No. 39 in Empire's "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.[13]

Variety, reviewing the original release, called it "a curious hybrid" that "appears a bit too solemn to inject all the suspense, action and characterization [Melville] seeks", and "almost seems to be an American film dubbed into French" that "could be cut a bit".[14]

New York Times critic Vincent Canby called the original film "immaculate", but criticized the dubbing in the 1972 version released in the U.S. (as The Godson) as "disorienting" and "dreadful".[15]

Roger Ebert gave the film four out of four in his review, writing: "Like a painter or a musician, a filmmaker can suggest complete mastery with just a few strokes. Jean-Pierre Melville involves us in the spell of Le Samourai (1967) before a word is spoken. He does it with light: a cold light, like dawn on an ugly day. And color: grays and blues. And actions that speak in place of words", with Ebert including the film in his collection of "Great Movies" essays.[16]

Box office

The film grossed over 1.9 million admissions in France and over 797,011 admissions across Spain.[7] First released in theaters in 1972 in the United States, The Samurai grossed $39,481 in the 1997 re-release.[5]

Influence and legacy

The film has influenced other works and directors:

  • Walter Hill's 1978 film The Driver features a similar dynamic between a reluctant female witness and, this time, the getaway driver, not the assassin.
  • Hong Kong director John Woo's 1989 film The Killer was heavily influenced by Le Samouraï's plot, with the pianist replaced by a singer. Chow Yun-fat's character Jeffrey Chow (international character name for Ah Jong) was inspired by Alain Delon's Jef Costello. The inspiration, or homage, is confirmed by the similarity in the character names. Woo acknowledged his influences by writing a short essay on Le Samouraï and Melville's techniques for the film's Criterion Collection DVD release.[17]
  • Jim Jarmusch paid homage to Le Samouraï in the 1999 crime-drama Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, starring Forest Whitaker as a meditative, loner assassin who lives by the bushido code. Just as Costello has a huge ring of keys that enables him to steal any Citroën DS, the hitman Ghost Dog has an electronic "key" to break into luxury cars.[18][19]
  • Hong Kong director Pang Ho-Cheung's 2001 crime-and-filmmaking comedy You Shoot, I Shoot features Eric Kot as a hitman who idolizes Alain Delon's Jef, dressing like the character, and speaking to him via a Le Samouraï poster in his apartment.[20]
  • Johnnie To's Vengeance (2009) is a homage to Melville’s gangster films. The main character is a retired assassin whose last name is Costello. He offered the role to Alain Delon, who turned it down.[21]
  • George Clooney's assassin hiding in a small Italian village in Anton Corbijn's 2010 film The American bears a resemblance to Le Samouraï.[22]
  • Ryan Gosling's nameless protagonist in the 2011 film Drive shares key characteristics with Jef Costello.[23]
  • Madonna's 2012 song "Beautiful Killer" is an homage to Alain Delon. The song alludes to Le Samouraï and Delon's Jef: "You are a beautiful killer / I like your silhouette when you stand on the streets / Like a samurai you can handle the heat / Makes me wanna pray for a haunted man..."[24]
  • Kazakh film, Yellow Cat, directed by Adilkhan Yerzhanov has the protagonist quoting and performing scenes from Le Samourai throughout the film as a major character point.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Le Samouraï". UniFrance. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Le SAMOURAÏ (1967)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 November 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Le samouraï [Frank Costello, faccia d'angelo] (1968)". Archivo del Cinema Italiano. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ^ Box office<r information for film at Box Office Story
  5. ^ a b "Le Samourï (1972)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Retrieved 4 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Le Samourai (1967) - Jean-Pierre Melville". AllMovie.
  7. ^ a b "LE SAMOURAI - ALAIN DELON BOX OFFICE 1967". BOX OFFICE STORY. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  8. ^ A Samurai in Paris Nogueira, Rui; TRUCHAUD, FRANCOIS. Sight and Sound; London Vol. 37, Iss. 3, (Summer 1968): 118.
  9. ^ Orlando Evening Star. Feb. 14, 1969
  10. ^ I"Fire Razes Melville's Studio Jenner in Paris." Variety. July 12, 1967.
  11. ^ "Le Samouraï". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Nathalie Delon, éternelle complice du Samouraï". LEFIGARO (in French). 21 January 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  13. ^ "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema – 39. Le Samourai". Empire. Bauer Media Group. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 October 2013. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  14. ^ Variety, Nov 8, 1967. p. 24.
  15. ^ Canby, Vincent (13 July 1972). "'The Godson' (No Relation to 'Godfather') Opens". The New York Times.
  16. ^ Ebert, Roger. "Le Samourai movie review & film summary (1967)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  17. ^ Amith, Dennis (18 April 2010). "Le Samourai – THE CRITERION COLLECTION #306 (a J!-ENT DVD Review)". J!-ENT. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  18. ^ Hoberman, J. (29 February 2000). "Into the Void". The Village Voice. Josh Fromson. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  19. ^ Thorsen, Tor. "Reel Review - Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (2000)". Reel.com. Archived from the original on 26 April 2005. Retrieved 18 June 2013.
  20. ^ Hu, Brian. "You Shoot, I Shoot". Directory of World Cinema. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  21. ^ "Vengeance / Johnnie To / 2009". Films de France. Retrieved 21 March 2010.
  22. ^ Cox, David (30 November 2010). "George Clooney is just another boring hitman". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  23. ^ Thomson, David (20 September 2011). "Thomson on Films: 'Drive,' a Cool, New Noir That Degenerates Into a Bloodbath". The New Republic. Chris Hughes. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  24. ^ Mason, Kerri (23 March 2012). "Q&A: Martin Solveig Talks Madonna's Movie Taste & Co-Producing 'MDNA'". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 17 June 2013.

Further reading

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Le Samouraï.
Retrieved from "https://justapedia.org/index.php?title=Le_Samouraï&oldid=1111985149"