Review of Le Doulos (1962) by Christian H — 04 Sep 2009
One of the most brilliant crime films I've seen in a long time. Your typical heist film revolves around the planning and execution of the heist, but in Le Doulos, the heist has occurred before the film begins.
Le Doulos takes as its subject the aftermath of the heist, which gets mixed up with some payback coming to some of the participants for past trangressions. Although at first Melville makes the brooding Serge Reggiani the protagonist, when the emotionless Jean-Paul Belmondo shows up the viewer must choose which of these two is lying and which is telling the truth.
Dead bodies pile up in Le Doulos, and as the movie progresses through plot twist after twist, the viewer is gradually let in on the back story. Shot in murky black and blinding white. Adding to the confusion is brilliant sound work--at one point what we take to be the soundtrack building the suspense is just a radio which is suddenly flicked off.
Nothing is as it seems in this movie, and you won't forget the brutal yet poetic ending.
This review of Le Doulos (1962) was written by Christian H on 04 Sep 2009.
Le Doulos has generally received very positive reviews.
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