Jean Pierre Melville Poll

Ooooh this is tough. Army of Shadows vs. Le Samouri vs. Bob Le Flambeur, I guess.

soooooooo overrated.

Add The Red Circle and you've described my dilemma.

Alex has, I mean, not Doc.

altho I'm seeing Enfants terribles fairly soon for the first time. So far, Samourai in front for me.

le doulos most def

i've only seen the four mentioned in the above posts and i like 'em all about the same. bob le flambeur just over le circle rouge for me

err, the four when i started writing that were: bob le flambeur, cercle rouge, le samourai, and army of shadows

Morbs do you like Clouzot?

le doulos is amazing, it was just in theaters in a new print so i expect a criterion release sometime soon.

xp to Alex

love The Wages of Fear; like Le Corbeau a lot; Diabolique fuzzy in memory, good I guess -- that's all I've seen.

I just don't think JPM is at his best with Army of Shadows, he does the existential gang thing best, and I like that when it's most stylized (hence, LE Samourai).

Oh so your saying Army of Shadows is overrated, not JPM. That's fair, I guess.

Hard, but gotta be Le Samourai. Just for the scene with the car keys.

I think I'll go w/Bob. The weakest I've seen is Un Flic, which is more of a letdown in comparison to what preceeded it than a bad film.

xp: he IS overrated, tho not as much as AoS!

I like Un Flic, but it's not spectactular or anything just a solid cops'n
'crooks caper film.

Agreed, altough the "special effects minatures" used during the train sequence don't help matters.

u guys am i retarded cause circle rouge & bob bored me to tears? I loved the shit out of Samourai & actually have a t-shirt.

oily dude they have them at vulcan, you need one in your life

Le Cercle Rouge was living death to watch.

yeah, it really is

This shirt is rad, I wish I could get one

oh damn that is fly

if you want the REAL Le Samourai clothes there's only one place to go...

http://www.alaindelon.com/f/products.asp?cat=9

WTF?! re: the Delon menswear line. Anyway -- Le Cercle Rouge gets my vote for most superb Melville. Too bad it puts some folks to sleep. Then again, Antonioni is mentioned around me and I reach for my pj's.

le deuxieme souffle because thats where john woo stole his raddest ideas from. also lino ventura & michel constantine in starring roles!!

don't want to be captain obvious, but it's 'le samourai'. 'le silence de la mer' is rly good.

why is 'samourai' the obvious choice?

i speak from ignorance here.

Because it's the first one everyone sees if they are a John Woo fan.

Hoos, how do you feel about Rififi?

Because it's the first one everyone sees if they are a John Woo fan.

-- Alex in SF, Saturday, December 15, 2007 12:24 AM

I was about to say "Where is the John Woo etc etc," then I remembered the Killer connection. I don't even remember why I rented it at first. I think I was going through a gangster movie phase and it was highly recommended or something.

Hoos, how do you feel about Rififi?

-- Oilyrags, Saturday, December 15, 2007 3:49 AM

I still haven't seen it! I know/knew a guy in it (RIP)!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I think I forgot to vote in my own poll! Anyway, right now I'm thinking probably Bob. Or Red Circle. Or Army of Shadows.

Oh yeah, that's why I forgot...

I missed this poll. I might have voted for Léon Morin, prêtre.

this result seems about right.

army o' shadows needs mo love but i guess it's the overkill-overcompensation cycle in effect.

I saw Les Enfants Terribles last night ... not much like his others, since Cocteau is kind of the auteur, but many Wellesian visual strokes. The lead female performance carries it as advertised, but Cocteau's blond boytoy (who can't really act as the incestuous bro) is a hot hot slab o' meat.

I've only seen Le Samorai and part of Army of Shadows.

Both cool, I like Le Samorai.

le deuxieme souffle might be my pick now, that movie is completely great

Not just me, who thinks Deniro copped a bunch of stuff from Ventura in this movie, esp. for Ronin and Heat. Could just be the physical resemblance, though.

just saw Léon Morin, prêtre, w/ Belmondo as surprisingly plausible priest amid bunch of flawed women (semi-lol).

just saw Le Cercle Rouge, pretty damn good, if a tiny bit underexplained as to how the cop finally lands his men - less about the plot than the relationship dynamics and the mood

and no female characters at all

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0fj4hWOtr1qcay1ao1_500.gif

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0hg31tOsV1qcay1ao1_500.gif

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0e6r8ygsq1qcay1ao1_500.gif

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0e4dpTqzT1qcay1ao1_500.gif

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0e2b4uDPX1qcay1ao1_500.gif

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m0e1sfgI8j1qcay1ao1_500.gif

Thanks Omar those are awesome!!

Love those gifs. Le Cercle Rouge has to be #1 for me. I can re-watch it until the cows come home.

Currently halfway through Army of Shadows. Surprised to see that it only preceded Rouge by a year. Looks older than that - maybe I'm watching a dodgy print.

anyone watched the Criterion Silence de la Mer? Very rigorous Resistance/quasi-horror film. (The Nazi protagonist loves French culture and is a musician.)

Melville centennial retro in NYC

http://filmforum.org/series/melville-series

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/05/01/jean-pierre-melvilles-cinema-of-resistance

s/o to the middle aged guy in the cue for yesterday's screening of <i>Le Deuxieme Souffle</i> at the BFI who came in Alain Delon <i>Le Samourai</i> cosplay

Paul Meurisse and Walter Matthau, separated at birth?

Is the general consensus on Un flic that it's nothing special? I saw it years ago, and was pretty much unmoved, but it and Le Cercle Rouge are both leaving the Criterion Channel at the end of the month and I'm wondering if I should give Un flic another shot, or just proceed on to Le Cercle Rouge (which I've never seen).

Watch Le Cercle Rouge first! Un Flic is a strange(r) film but by no means a lesser Melville. Just tonally one of his oddest.

Then again I feel Melville could do no wrong. I know plenty of folks who are bored senseless by his films or find them to be "meh".

I don't care for Le Cercle Rouge but give it a try for completism's sake.

Le Cercle Rouge >>>>>>> Un flic

iirc Le Cercle Rouge has the bit where someone has to hide in the boot of a car, and gets in smoking a lit cigarette.

Saw Army of Shadows on a big screen today and don’t know what to make of it. It’s tense, but boring. Pretty, but also drearily ugly. Realistic, except when it’s totally far-fetched.

Much prefer Le Samourai and secondarily Le Cercle Rouge.