222 - Le Doulos

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Apr 8, 2020 · 23m

We visit another Melville, 1963's Le Doulos, about a network of criminals searching for an informer in their midst. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays his thief with such assuredly French swagger that it's no wonder why Quentin Tarantino names this film as a significant influence, though we also pick up on the story's similarity to Reservoir Dogs, in particular the botched robbery and snitch mystery. The film has clearly been preserved beautifully, the crispness of the images on Mubi's stream simply breathtaking. As with Un flic, we consider the characters' alienation, emphasised here through…