Another tale of dishonor among thieves and another masterpiece from Jean- Pierre Melville but this one's a little more complicated than most. "Le Doulos" is slang for a hat but in criminal circles it also means a police informer. The informer here is Jean-Paul Belmondo and he seems to be playing one side against the other, police and crooks, but to what end? The movie is tortuously plotted until it's all very neatly and beautifully tied up at the end and it pays homage, not just to the great Hollywood gangster movies, but to such classically poetic French films of the thirties such as "Le Jour se Leve" and "Les Quai Des Brumes". Belmondo is, of course, magnificent and SergeReggiani is suitably fatalistic as the gangster who sets everything in motion. An absolutely essential movie.

This film is a 1960s version of an American Film Noir flick. However, as it was made a little later and due to French sensibilities, there were some differences. First, the film was even more brutal, as one woman got beaten very convincingly and cruelly on film and another guy had a bloody bullet pulled from his shoulder. I didn't really mind these details too much, as the characters WERE bad people and you could easily see them behaving that way. Also, because this was created in the midst of the French New Wave, the camera work was a little fuzzier and cheaper than a polished Hollywood film. This isn't' necessarily worse--just different in style--sort of like some of Sam Fuller's films. The only real problems I had with the film is that the plot was a little confusing (probably less so if you are French) and there are many earlier, American Film Noir pictures that are simply better. This isn't to say this is a bad film--it's pretty good. It's just that I didn't feel it offered any sort of improvement over earlier works such as The Killers, DOA, Kiss of Death or any number of other Film Noir flicks.

Burglar Maurice Faugel has just finished his sentence. He murders Gilbert Vanovre, a receiver, and steals the loot of a break-in. He is also preparing a house-breaking, and his friend Silien brings him the needed equipment. But Silien is a police informer...

American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino cited the screenplay for "Le Doulos" as being his personal favorite and being a large influence on his debut picture "Reservoir Dogs". This does not surprise me in the least. Melville really picked up the mantle of noir that the Americans had done in the 1930s and 40s, and then apparently just gave up on. Luckily, he did it right and influenced one of the greatest crime films of the 1990s.

What I love about Melville more than the story-telling or characters is actually the use of color. Just so crisp, with every shot capturing this gritty world as it should be.