chaswe-28402
The plots of some of Raymond Chandler's stories were not even understood by their author. From the reviews on this site it is clear I am not alone in having problems with the plot of this film. The beginning was fairly clear, although it was difficult to know why the gloomy released prisoner, Maurice Faugel, suddenly shot the kind and friendly old fence, Gilbert. The ending was fairly clear: it was obvious that mistakes were being made by the trigger-happy threesome, Faugel, Silien and a jailbird called Kern. I understood hardly anything of the stuff in between. It kept me guessing. If I watch the film some few times again, with the help of Wikipedia's elucidation, perhaps I will be able to figure it out.Faugel reminded me slightly of Mr Bean. Belmondo, the only familiar face, who plays the multiple treble-crosser, Silien, seemed very different from the character in "Breathless", although that film was made only two years earlier. He looked slimmer, more restrained and subdued, and younger, although he had seemed quite young in "Breathless".It's all very intriguing and bewildering. The girls are extremely badly treated, beaten up and even murdered by the men. It is baffling and difficult to know why, but this kind of relationship between the sexes is quite typical of noir films. Somebody once told me it's because relationships during the war, WWII, had been characterized by unease, treachery and faithlessness.On its release the film was given a mindlessly critical review in the New York Times. I was entertained.
ElMaruecan82
Along a long walkway, emerging from the dark, the shadowy silhouette of Serge Reggiani as Maurice Fogel, a taciturn and solitary figure walking beneath a bridge in a long track shot paralleled with the opening credits. His footsteps resonate as the passing of time's ticking. At one point, the camera 'loses' him to follow the long shots of horizontal linearity tracing a destiny foreshadowed by the opening existentialist sentence : 'One must choose … to die or to lie'.Maurice enters an isolated sinister house and sees himself in the mirror. He meets Gilbert in a dark little room upstairs and their discussion economically delivers precious information on Maurice's background. He's an ex-con, who lost his touch and a girlfriend named Arlette and is preparing a robbery. Gilbert is obviously an old friend, warning Maurice about one of his acquaintances : a man named Silien, he offers him food, advice, and even a gun … what follows introduces us the duplicitous relationships prevailing in the underworld.There starts a mind-blowing masterpiece of deliberate confusion, as the fundamental element on which survival is based. This ability to lie is vital for le Doulos, literally, the man with the hat ('le Doul' in French slang), the cop informer, Silien, portrayed with the perfect mix of detached elegance and methodical professionalism, by a young Jean-Paul Belmondo. "In this business, you either die like a bum or full of lead" Silien highlights the ephemeral and futile nature of his profession, whose only exit is to get rich and leave. Silien's plans feature a big house in Province, a beautiful woman, and a nice retirement for his friend, Maurice.Friendship and loyalty are recurring themes in Melville's filmography, even in a world of thugs and murderers. Without principles, there would be basically no character to root for, and ultimately no tragedy. Both Silien and Maurice are crooked, but not morally corrupted. Maurice killed his friend Gilbert because he 'silenced' Arlette, and he could never have killed him if he hadn't turned his back. Melville was ahead of his time in his way to juxtapose ethical behavior with criminal acts. And if Silien's actions and involvement with the police inspire our suspicion, a long flash-back sequence debriefs us about Silien's true motives : Melville 'got us'."Le Doulos" contains all the classic Melvillian codes. The perfectionism of Silien and Maurice echo the iconic Samurai of Delon. The movie is so attention-demanding, several scenes need to be seen again like Maurice cleaning all the spots he touched before leaving Gilbert's house. The cops have this intelligence and refinement that create sumptuous interactions with the criminals. There's an extraordinary sequence where Silien discusses with Clain, the Police Chief, with a 360° panoramic view and no edit during exactly 8 minutes. The stunning black-and-white cinematography embodies the grim atmosphere. The first scene itself is an expressionist masterpiece in the way light reveals Maurice's duplicity with only half of his face visible, an ambiguity illustrated by the swinging lamp's dizzying effect.Melville's genius is in the way he manipulates us, our regards toward the characters' motives are altered all through the film, and no conclusion is to be taken for granted, a reminiscence of the Occupation years when anyone could be a resistant or a collaborator, a friend or a traitor. The script and the editing maintain a suspenseful uncertainty as we never see Silien and Maurice interact. And even our perceptions change, we all see Silien as a vicious individual in the beginning, but when he takes off his hat, he's a vulnerable kid, an innocence confirmed by his smiling expression when we walks in the last scene, mirroring the first one with a sad premonition, subtly hinted by an allusion to "The Asphalt Jungle"'s ending, the theme of failure was also particularly cherished by John Huston.John Huston, William Wyler, Robert Wise … Melville, who took his name from the novelist Herman Melville, was a vivid admirer of the great American gangster films. "Le Doulos" is to Melville, what "Kill Bill" is for Tarantino, a tribute to a worshiped genre. It features fedora hats, trench coats, cocktail bars, glasses of scotch, unfaithful dames, guns, lies, betrayal, honor and redemption, an anachronistic universe when we consider the Paris of the 60's. There is something totally Americanized and 40's in Melville's Paris. I was even surprised by the cars, so unusually big for the Parisian setting. Ultimately, the only indications of the sixties are the hairdo and clothes of Maurice's girlfriend Therese.Which brings up a controversial issue : Melville's universe is a male one where women hardly play a significant part. I was shocked by the treatment of the beautiful Therese, before her informer nature is revealed. She's slapped, knocked out by Silien, tied up. He empties a bottle of whiskey on her face, humiliating her by messing up her face while he stays elegant. This brutal treatment followed by her fatal disproportional punishment, illustrates the gangster's cold-blooded nature, and the outsider status of women. Melville used women as foils for the virility of his characters, he didn't even cast female stars, as their acting seem awkwardly inferior to the men. Thérèse was played by an amateur, Melville's secretary, and she was a good an actress as the informer was a liar. Get the point? But despite all the precautions taken by Silien, he couldn't prevent Maurice from hiring someone to kill him, while he was still considered a rat. Silien's house gave the unfortunate clue that he wasn't going to end like a bum. The thrilling climax responds to the codes of Greek tragedy with the two men who can't escape from their nature. Silien looks at himself in the mirror with the figure of a man entrapped in his condition, and the only way to get out of it, and conquers back a poignant humanity, is to let the hat fall
writers_reign
Here we have yet another euphemism for nark in French underworld slang -we have already encountered La Balance and Le Cousin - which appears to possess an endless supply of same. 'Doulos' means both 'hat' and 'informer' on French streets and given the subject matter plus the trade of the leading character it is well named. Jean-Pierre Melville was, of course, both a specialist and master of American-style French gangster films and here he does both himself and his American Masters proud. At this time he was still shooting in Black and White which enhanced the resemblance and homage to such U.S. titles as 'The Asphalt Jungle', Melville's personal favorite, though when he DID go with color he turned out two masterpieces in 'Le Samourai' and 'Le Cercle Rouge'. He tended to work with actors repeatedly, specifically Alain Delon - Le Samourai, Le Cercle Rouge, Un Flic - and Jean-Paul Belmondo, who even played a priest for Melville in Leon Morin, prete. It's Belmondo who gets to bat this time out and when he steps up to the plate he hits one out of the park. He is established tidily as a nark and Melville daringly delays until two thirds of the way through to reveal what is arguably the biggest twisteroo. To say more would be superfluous. Go see. 8/10
