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Le samouraï (1967)
Great movie
"Nothing to say?" "Not with a gun on me." "Is that a principle?" "A habit."
This film was directed brilliantly by Melville, who deals away with expository dialogue, action set-pieces and any semblance of a backstory. Not a second of this film is wasted with such trifles, the story is instead told through character actions and not through words (the first 10 minutes of the film are actually wordless).
Our protagonist is Jef Costello (Alain Delon), a killer for hire, who has got wearing a fedora down to almost an exact science. He is hard as nails, cool as ice and suave as hell. The story follows him as he judiciously establishes himself an alibi, kills a club owner, is then taken in by the police, slips through a lineup, gets betrayed by his employers and is then stalked through a dreary Paris by the police and his employers alike, all the while realizing his own plan to take revenge.
Melville's Paris always looks like it's either about to rain or it just did (when it's not actually raining). Both interiors and exteriors are perpetually drenched in grays and blues. Melville drains the entire film of color much in the same way that he drains his characters of words, that way both Paris and Jef feel cold, solitary and distant.
Le Samourai is expertly crafted, effortlessly stylish and, I think, definitely worth seeing.