Serge Reggiani - Maurice Faugel
Fabienne Dali - Fabienne
Monique Hennessy - Therese
Jean Pierre Melville (Director)
I know, I know. Another French / black & white / 1960's / Gangster movie. What can I say? I love this stuff. And Le Doulos is a great example of why. I have commented on other Melville reviews about his patience and how he allows a story to unfold. In Le Doulos he goes beyond patience into with holding information. He totally changes his narrative structure. When in his other movies the viewer learns information as the protagonists do, in Le Doulos (The Hat or The Informer) everyone on screen knows bits and pieces that are not known by anyone else. Melville is not employing "misdirection", that would mean that he is leading you to an assumption. He is intentionally keeping data from you and therein you make decisions based on what you see. All this accumulates in a flashback sequence where every persons motives are laid out and you see the movie from a completely different perspective. This is nothing short of brilliant film making.
On top of the creative narrative structure there is beautiful cinematography on display. Nicolas Hayer was his cinematographer. His used tradition American noir lighting and shadows to better display both sides (the pure or naive and the evil or untrustworthy) nature of the characters.
These characters were portrayed very well by Melville (and French New Wave) regulars Belmondo and Reggainni. Belmondo was exceptionally good here. Because of the structure we never know who is the good guy, or is there even is one. It is for sure though that even if Belmondo is the protagonist he is not a "good guy". Reggainni was on a bit of a career downturn when he was cast in the role. He brought a lot of desperation and despair to the role. I thought he sort of looked like Mr. Bean, but there is not a lot of humor in this film. The other roles that stood out for me were the female ones. That is mostly because French noir generally doesn't use the archetype Femme Fatale the way that American noir's do. And in this film we might see why. Both women in Le Doulos are not treated with much of any respect. We later find out why, but at the time it is pretty shocking to see women not only ruffed up, but really degraded and insulted like they are in this film. Melville took a lot of criticism for his portrayal of females in this film and as a result he rarely used women in his films afterwards, giving him a reputation of being a misogynist.
This film is a little less straight forward than Le Deuxieme Souffle (Movie #176). By that I mean that I feel Melville was being more experimental with this movie. Structurally, thematically, and visually. There is a great 8 minute interrogation scene shot entirely in one take. And it is so subtle that I didn't even notice it for probably 4 minutes or so. Also there is a mixture of American and French landscapes that frames each character. Melville thought of everything. Like always.
I give Le Doulos ★★★. Check out the Trailer Park to see for yourself.
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