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Le Samourai - Criterion Collection
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0037429208526
Format: Color, DVD-Video, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
Label: Artists International
Languages: French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 MonoEnglish (Subtitled),
Manufacturer: Artists International
MPN: 150
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Artists International
Region Code: 1
Release Date: October 25, 2005
Running Time: 105 minutes
Studio: Artists International
Theatrical Release Date: 1967
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Editorial Review:
Alain Delon is the coolest killer to hit the screen, a film noir loner for the modern era, in Jean-Pierre Melville's austere 1967 French crime classic. Delon's impassive hit man, Jef Costello, is the ultimate professional in an alienated world of glass and metal. On his latest contract, however, he lets a witness live--a charming jazz pianist, Valerie (Cathy Rosier), who neglects to identify him in the police lineup. When Costello survives an assassination attempt by his employers, he carefully plots his next moves as cops and criminals close in and he prepares for one last job. Melville meticulously details every move by Costello and the police in fascinating wordless sequences, from Costello's preparations for his first hit to the cops' exhaustive efforts to tail Jef as he lines up his last; and his measured pace creates an otherworldly ambiance, an uneasy calm on the verge of shattering. Costello remains a cipher, a zen killer whose façade begins to crack as the world seems to be collapsing in on him, exposing the wound-up psyche hidden behind his blank face. Melville rethinks film noir in modern terms, as an existential crime drama in soft, somber color and sleek images (courtesy of cinematographer extraordinaire Henri Decaë). Le Samouraï inspired two pseudo-remakes, Walter Hill's Driver and John Woo's Killer, but neither film comes close to the compelling austerity and meticulous detail of Melville's cult masterpiece. --Sean Axmaker
In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays blue-eyed Jef Costello, a fedora- and trench-coat-wearing contract killer with samurai instincts
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Melvillian Ganster Movie
Fine transfer of one of Melville's ganster movies. Alain Delon draws his gun faster than the eye! Stylish and hilarious and set in an imaginary Paris, this is not at all a realistic movie - but it is simply excellent.
Rating: - Very stylish; very cool; very worthy of your time...
First things first; `Le Samourai' is a very, very cool movie. The vibe is just so fluid and stirring; you can't help but become one with the mood that is set by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville. The first sequence alone is utter perfection; contract killer Jef Costello sprawled out across his bed, puffs of cigarette smoke rising to the ceiling and a lonely birdcage resting in the center of the room, the only sound being the constant and sporadic chirping of the frantic bird within its bars. ... Read More
Rating: - Greatest Film Noir--Melville's Masterpiece
Melville's masterpiece on solitude remains perhaps the greatest film noir ever made with the coolly stylish and icily detached cinematography of Henri Decae capturing a series of gray, rainy day tableaux upon which Alain Delon wanders as the quintessential existential loner--a meditative assassin in love with death.
Rating:  - Melville: Génie de l'ambiance
Alain Delon fait une de ces meilleures performance. Le James Bonds «mauvais garçon» français par excellence. Dans ce film, Alain Delon joue le rôle d'un tueur à gage, un peu (beaucoup) frimeur qui va jusqu'à mettre des gants blancs lorsqu'il commet un meurtre. Il vit dans l'anonymat, est un véritable chat noir impossible a voir au milieu de la nuit et subtil pendant le jour. L'intérêt du film, à mon humble avis, n'est vraiment pas l'histoire qui en somme est un film noir typique où l'histoire ... Read More
Rating: - Le Samourai
There's no doubt-this is one of the coolest movies I've ever seen. Easy to understand John Woo and Quentin Tarantino's fascination. However, if exploding buildings and high-speed carchases is what you're looking for, this isn't it. In Le Samourai it is all about the details, and if you are addicted to more modern, faster-paced Hollywood-trash, you'll probably find it boring. If not, sit back and enjoy Alain Delon/Jef Costello in Melville's best film.
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