Private screenings Jun 8, 2008
The "Stillness Unit" - films about men of poise - consists of "High Noon," "Internal Affairs," "The Dead Zone," "The Godfather Part II," "Bullitt," "Le Samourai," and "A Fistful of Dollars," and again one realizes how very male this book is. For someone like myself, who has daughters and has written of turning them on to the movies I love, reading "The Film Club" felt like visiting a foreign country where the signposts are the same but the destinations are unexpectedly different. (Boston Globe)
Mortensen is driving force in Cronenberg film Sep 14, 2007
Mortensen's Nikolai, by contrast, could come out of a Jean-Pierre Melville movie of the 1960s - one of those French Zen crime sagas like "Le Samourai," where silence is sexy and lethal. Unreadable behind his wraparound shades, Nikolai slicks his hair back in a devil-horned quiff and just waits. (Boston Globe -- Living)
Movie reviews Jul 14, 2006
There are many thrilling sequences in the movie, but Melville (best-known for the gangster thriller "Bob Le Flambeur" and the noir masterwork "Le Samourai") wrings most of the excitement out of a minimum of words and movement. In this world, anything beyond a quick glance or nod could land you in a Gestapo interrogation room. (Times Herald-Record, NY -- Entertainment)
Melville's dark 'Army' is both personal and powerful Jun 16, 2006
" Make no mistake, though -- this is director Jean-Pierre Melville speaking from his wounded heart.The appearance of a Melville film in these parts is always an event. The filmmaker (1917-1973) presaged the French New Wave with gangster movies like ``Bob Le Flambeur" (1955) that are breathtaking displays of existential cool; such later works as ``Le Samourai" (1967) and ``Le Cercle Rouge" (1970) are just about perfect in their commingling of sin and Zen. Army of Shadows" was made in 1969,... (Boston Globe -- Living)
Once Upon a Time in Australia May 5, 2006
You must accept that, when Melville clothes the heroes like those of his own gangster movies, such as Le Samourai, he is not imposing a style so much as honoring a strain of melancholy toughness not a bad defense mechanism under such conditions. Above all, you have to feel the plucking of your nerves as Gerbier flees his captors along empty nighttime streets, slows to a walk, and slips into the only shop where the lights still burn. (New Yorker)
"Army of Shadows" Apr 28, 2006
Even American moviegoers who know Melville's other pictures -- like the somber-elegant 1970 gangster film "Le Cercle Rouge" or the brilliant 1967 end-of-an-era, end-of-a-man noir "Le Samourai" -- may barely be aware of its existence. Click on the sponsor logo: to read this article and all of Salon for free. (Salon)
The hit parade Feb 12, 2006
Supersmooth killer Alain Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai is unlucky enough to fall for a woman who's the only witness to his last murder-for-hire. Ah, decisions, decisions: kiss or kill, shag or tag. (Guardian Unlimited)
