Le Samouraï (The Godson)

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Le Samouraï (The Godson)

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Le Samouraï (The Godson)

Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon

A dedicated professional killer lies fully clothed in his monochromed apartment, then goes off to a day at the office: stealing a car, killing a man in a nightclub, setting up an ironclad alibi, and o...( read more  read more... )utsmarting the police. Two problems: his anonymous employers don''t trust him and he''s left one witness behind, a beautiful jazz pianist.

Id: 10191153

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Le Samouraï (The Godson) Recent Reviews
  • ebs90
    July 10, 2009
    ebs90

    Le Samourai is a masterpiece. Now that we got that out of the way, I suppose it's unnecessary to even say that it's a MUST watch and that it single-handedly outdoes most of the other French New Wave films I've seen so far.



    Jean Pierre Melville's film is a homage to the ...( read more)American noir: its stylings and its characters. And it's probably better than most of those films. It's hypnotizing in a way that really transcends an explanation -everything is just right, everything just falls into place in every scene: set, lighting, score, cinematography, everything. It's a film in which the quality of the technical aspects and the precision of each montage is on par with the quality of the performances. Alain Delon is larger than life as Jef Costello.

    Jef is a hired assassin who lives a life not different from that of a samourai... as Delon said once during an interview, he is a modern-day samourai. He's lonely -although it's unclear whether this is because he chose to shun people or because they chose to shun him a cause of his strange nature-. Rather, he chooses to be alone. It is as though his job is his one motivation. He never expresses feeling. He is self-sufficient. He is helplessly committed to the twisted honor of his profession. Alain Delon's performance is stunning: there is always something behind his cold blue eyes, and we know it's there, but it's so perfectly collected and repressed. His countenance never changes, only when it absolutely must, and then the impact of these changes is awe-inspiring. There is an aggressive masculinity to his role, but Delon himself is very feminine. He's an assassin, but he's beautiful. His screen presence is everything. Without that game of isolation and charisma, ugliness and beauty, Le Samourai wouldn't be nearly as remarkable. It's a film driven by one performance. One perfect performance.



    The rest of the film's success is the styilization. When watching Le Samourai, you breathe mood -mood -mood. The cinematography is wonderful; Paris is seen in washed-out blues, beiges and whites. Every character is dressed and carries itself with flair. Every man blowing out cigarette smoke is perfectly framed, perfectly half-hidden in the dark, all movements perfectly orchestrated. The atmosphere is almost reverential towards the heaviness of the subject, and melancholy in accordance to the main character's self-constructed doom.

    The final (and probably the most important) charm of Le Samourai is the character of Jef Costello himself. He has a compromise, based purely on principle, that would be unthinkable in an era in which people flee from committment. He has chosen a revolting line of work that he elevates with the odd dignity with which he performs every little task. He never gives up on solitude. He never bows to anyone. He believes the ethics of his profession are to be taken seriously.



    ...And he knows that he can't succeed in the modern world by acting that way. Principles, for whatever purpose, are out of date. He knows he's doomed to fail, and so do we, ever since the first shot. So the entire film is really how he walks towards his destiny, understanding that he can't escape it. And everything ends in the most beautiful and sad way possible.

    Le Samourai is free for interpretation. Its content is just as ambiguous as it must be in order to stay within its poetic context. I could never stop praising it. Melville found the way to do what I suppose filmmakers all seek: create a film in which images, colors, gestures, decisions, what happens behind the faces of the characters, can convey a message, and tell a story. He doesn't need words, he doesn't make use of explanations. It's breathtaking. I can't recommend it enough.
  • ceWEBrity
    May 25, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    Alain Delon is flaming hot sex. Also, this is a knockout example of communicating a lot while saying very little in cinema terms; as soon as I finished it I felt like I could talk about it for half an hour. The unusual ending just helps to sell this depth, because you know that a...( read more) man as calculating and thoughtful as Jef couldn't have done this seemingly random act for no reason at all. The pacing is a little thick, but the fantastic editing and cinematography help to alleviate this. Every frame feels memorable and deliberate, and it helps you to burn the film into your mind all the more.

    Le Samourai is a piece best viewed analytically, a treasure trove of filmic ability and narrative depth that really will give any cinephile something to chew on. Incredibly impressive work.
  • sanjurosamurai
    April 13, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    an interesting story about a hitman in paris. the stoic nature of the film was well crafted and the actors were great. a film limited on diologue, the movement of the main character and the intrigue into his actions drives the film. a true classic, this film doesnt grab me aft...( read more)er two viewings like it does most, but it is still a great film that is the definition of the stylized approach of one of my favorite directors in history. while down the list a little for me this is often considered by many to be melvilles best film.
  • Jungian
    April 5, 2008
    Jungian
    Jean Pierre Melville's crowning achievement. I love the music in this film.
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    January 30, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Everyone from Besson to Woo and Jarmush, from Leon to The Killer and more recently Kim Ji Woon's A Bittersweet Life own a lot to Melville's Le Samourai. One of the most influential films ever made, probably the first sucessfull fusion of eastern and western references, from noir ...( read more)to samurai flicks. The "lonely-cool-cold-as-ice-killer" prototype becomes an icon in Alain Deloin's feet.

    And for fuck sake, remove that "Godson" title.
  • dipa89
    November 1, 2009
    dipa89

  • alexroy69
    October 29, 2009
    alexroy69
    Alain Delon incarne le gangster parfait. Il est froid, détaché, il parle peu, mais il se dégage quand même de son personnage une humanité incompréhensible. Quand on y pense, il n'y a rien pour le rendre attachant, sa personnalité est dépouillée, on ne sait rien de lui, mais bon d...( read more)ieu qu'il est cool.

    Ça se peut juste pas comment ce film-là coule bien. C'est compressé, mais d'une bonne façon, avec un art de réalisation épatant. Il n'y a littéralement pas un plan qui ne veuille rien dire, qui n'apporte rien. Chaque geste, chaque parole des personnages a sa place. C'est sobre et stylisé à la fois. Un tour de force.
  • allformat
    October 8, 2009
    allformat
    Following the psyche of a killer going through his profession. This film is a great character study, showing the Samourai in his solitude. Delon plays the role perfectly.
  • Arianeta
    October 6, 2009
    Arianeta
    Le Samouraï (English title The Samurai) is a French minimalist crime drama/thriller film directed by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville who made this 1967 before Martin Scorsese or Coppola came into the crime drama film scene. The film follows Jef Costello (Alain Delon), a hi...( read more)tman who lives alone with a bird and has a woman wrapped around his finger.

    The film opens with a wonderful shot of Delon lying on his bed in his small, minimalist apartment, smoking a cigarette, his bird chirping in the background.

    A beautifully atmospheric movie with a visual style unseen since the noir films of the 40's. A contemporary classic.



    ?There is not greater solitude than that of a Samourai, unless it?s that of a tiger in the jungle?perhaps.? -Bushido (Book of the Samourai)
  • ElCochran90
    September 11, 2009
    ElCochran90
    Review coming someday...

    100/100
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