Friday, November 18, 2005
MELVILLE
Today's movie is a vacation from the NYTimes Best Films.
It just came out on DVD and so I got it.
I love the work of Jean-Pierre Melville and this is 'supposed to be' one of his best; 'a masterpiece'.
Then, there is another point in its favor: Alain Delon stars. A dish; a pretty tough guy. What a combination. Pretty and tough, that is.
The opening scene and the 'samurai's' apartment is just astounding. The entire film is an eye feast.
The tight screen play works out with little dialog. The plot thickens as Melville shows rather than tells. The clock ticks. The suspense arises through induction.
And what comes out is a wonderfully tense drama where we root for the bad guy. I wonder how this is done? Getting us to empathize with a reprehensible character?
Delon's looks help; his demeanor; his discipline. We also see the entire story from his perspective. There are some exceptions.
An intricately paced sequence of opening and closing doors at the lineup where Delon is 'not' identified shows us some police work. There are a few other shots to let us know how they are working with the case.
But mostly, it is 'the samurai's' show. In this case, an urban contract killer who runs the show by his own code or standards.
I will give it a Netflix5.
Interesting about Melville. Not a French name, no? No.
He changed his name from Grumbach to the name of the American novelist.
Something to think about in his work, I suppose, but I am too besotted with the film right now to take the name thing apart.
Another weirdness; I am reading Herman, the original Melville, at this very moment; Omoo.
