293. Bob Le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler) (1956)
Directed By Jean-Pierre Melville
Synopsis
An old inveterate gambler plans a heist of a Casino safe in order to recover money he lost gambling, it doesn't all go according to plan but he doesn't get off badly.
Review
This film is considered one of the great influences on the French Nouvelle Vague that would come in force in the next decade. It is actually very easy to see how influential it is, the camera movements and hand-held cameras certainly contribute to a Nouvelle Vaguey feel, as does the whole atmosphere.
The film is not only looking towards the future, however, it is also looking towards the 40s and the great noir films of that age. The film starts with a voice-over, there is a femme fatale (who shows up in remarkable stages of nakedness for the 1950s, there even a split second nipple shot... yes these are the things I notice), there is a chain-smoking cop... you know the style.
The acting is quite good throughout, but the experimentalism of the film is sometimes also its downfall, some of the scenes seem disjointed, the cuts seem inappropriate at times, but it is all part of the growing pains of great cinema... or the problem with having a shit editor.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Vincent Canby, writing for the New York Times in 1981, noted "Melville's affection for American gangster movies may have never been as engagingly and wittily demonstrated as in Bob le Flambeur, which was only the director's fourth film, made before he had access to the bigger budgets and the bigger stars (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon) of his later pictures.
Trailer:
Synopsis
An old inveterate gambler plans a heist of a Casino safe in order to recover money he lost gambling, it doesn't all go according to plan but he doesn't get off badly.
Review
This film is considered one of the great influences on the French Nouvelle Vague that would come in force in the next decade. It is actually very easy to see how influential it is, the camera movements and hand-held cameras certainly contribute to a Nouvelle Vaguey feel, as does the whole atmosphere.
The film is not only looking towards the future, however, it is also looking towards the 40s and the great noir films of that age. The film starts with a voice-over, there is a femme fatale (who shows up in remarkable stages of nakedness for the 1950s, there even a split second nipple shot... yes these are the things I notice), there is a chain-smoking cop... you know the style.
The acting is quite good throughout, but the experimentalism of the film is sometimes also its downfall, some of the scenes seem disjointed, the cuts seem inappropriate at times, but it is all part of the growing pains of great cinema... or the problem with having a shit editor.
Final Grade
8/10
Trivia
From Wikipedia:
Vincent Canby, writing for the New York Times in 1981, noted "Melville's affection for American gangster movies may have never been as engagingly and wittily demonstrated as in Bob le Flambeur, which was only the director's fourth film, made before he had access to the bigger budgets and the bigger stars (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Alain Delon) of his later pictures.
Trailer:
posted by Francisco Silva @ 2:35 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home