Le Samouraï (1967)

Le Samouraï is a highly stylized French film noir from director Jean-Pierre Melville. It is about a professional hitman named Jef Costello (played stoically by Alain Delon) who is betrayed after a job and then must elude both the police and his former employers while trying to figure out who set him up and why. This is a film about solitude. The opening credits are shown in a long take of Jef in his room smoking while lying down on his bed. He can barely be seen and there is no sound beside the ambience of the outside world. The room is filled with his smoke circling over him and every aspect of the room is visible; all meticulously placed. There is a quote from Bushido the book of the Samurai that sets up the character, comparing the solitude of a samurai to that of a tiger in the jungle. As it turns out, this quote is entirely made up by Jean-Pierre Melville, but it sets up the tone regardless. Jef is a professional killer, and he is professional in every sense of the word. His dedication to his mission is comparable to that of a samurai’s duty to his honor.

Throughout the film there seems to be an obsession with items and little details. Jef, for example, does absolutely nothing without reason; everything he does is exact and with a specific purpose. When his room is bugged, it takes him no time to figure out where the bug was placed. There are also many extreme close ups of little objects such as Jef’s massive collection of keys. When stealing a car, he cycles through each one until he finds the one that matches. This object is seen later, but in use of the policemen bugging his apartment. Alain Delon does a great job expressing any of the character’s thoughts with his eyes, as there is very little dialogue from his character throughout the film. Jef only speaks when necessary, and in the first 8 or so minutes of the film, there is virtually no dialogue whatsoever.

The entire film is set to dark shadows of the night or gray skies in the day that almost feel as if the film was shot in black and white. There are no vivid colors outside of the nightclub and the tone of the film is consistent. Jean-Pierre Melville’s attention to detail and unique direction make this film both memorable and stand out in the film noir genre. One particular sequence that stands out is the scene in which Jef meets the man who is to pay him for a completed job on an overpass. Both characters face directly at the camera and instantly the audience is given the perspectives of both men. This subtle exchange builds the tension and leads into a surprising moment that begins Jef’s journey to find out why he is being hunted. There are moments of genuine suspense and the ending will leave you thinking about it for hours. Le Samouraï is a film about the solitude that goes along with being a professional killer and it is portrayed beautifully.