I think the ending is about being loyal to your code. He needs to get the job done but refuses to shoot a woman who saved him, therefore conflict is being resolved in letting yourself being killed, so the only way is choosing a suicide like a samurai but not in the cowardice way.

He is SO HANDSOME.

"The melvilian hero is a man from another time who accomplishes his fate in a world he has already left"

this great film has inspired sooo many others, from taxi driver, to walter hill's the driver, mann's thief, john woo's the killer, jarmusch's ghost dog. a remarkable classic and timeless masterpiece

Just watched this movie for the first time about a week ago and loved it. What I appreciate most about it is the minimalism of the dialogue. In contrast with a lot of French New Wave films, this film is almost like a silent movie, a feeling underscored by any subtitles necessary for English language folks like me. Yet we always get the information we need, be it visually or through what is spoken. It fits Hitchcock's definition of a perfect film: cut the sound and you can still follow the plot through the images.

I recently watched this, and I loved it. During the opening shot, I was thinking, "Let's go. Please be good. I really want to like this." Felt like the opening shot made me wait so long. But once it began, it gripped me the whole way through. Looking back, I see that the opening shot is there to contrast with the relentless momentum towards Jef's fate- "Le destin de Costello" as the soundtrack puts it. That opening shot was his last moment of peace.

I was just able to watch it on the big screen at the Plaza Theatre as part of the Atlanta Film Festival - it's a wonderful film. Thanks for the review!

Best film ever made in my view, and Delon's performance is one of the best in cinema history.

The first time I saw this film, it changed me. I became obsessed with Jeff.

I accidentally came upon this film earlier this year and was absolutely memsmorized. It reintroduced me to Alan Delon, an incredibly unforgettable actor. He doesn't need to say a word, and you are hooked. I cannot think of any actors today that have the ability to to that. What a treasure!

The dad of The Driver and grandpa of Drive and Baby Driver. Great video.

Brilliant movie! Delon’s acting is fantastic and the story is amazing.

This film plays out in such a straightforward way with little left to interpretation until its final moments. It mirrors the world of its protagonist so that even though you're watching him you are almost seeing it through his eyes. Very well shot too. The scene of him entering and exiting the nightclub are quite pretty to look at.

Le Samouraï was a critical influence on Jim Jarmusch's Ghost Dog, an all-time favorite of mine.

Does anyone else find Jef to be one of the most easily relatable characters on screen? It's so easy to identify with him.

The film works like a clockwork - everything in it seem so measured, counted and balanced! Also deserving a mention is Francois Perier: he doesn't "play" the police commisioner, he IS a police commisioner - putting every similar performance on shame!

Such a brilliant performance from Alain Delon!!!

Un film dealing with the immense value of silences. A masterpiece. In this sense it makes me associate it with "In the mood for love". Another masterpiece not to be missed and also totally dealing with precious silences. My two favourite films together with "A Plein Soleil" and "The third man".

The Killer by John Woo, Ghost Dog: The way of the Samurai, Taxi driver, Drive (2011) to name just a few movies who have been influenced by this masterpiece.

I just saw the movie..love it Jef follows Bushido..Honor,Loyalty, sincerity to task ..and in the end seppuku because he couldn't kill Valerie out of gratitude..honorable death

Alain Delon 🥰

I WAS 18 YEARS OLD IN 1969 I SAW THIS MOVIE I WAS REALY LIKED.SPEACIALY I LOVE BEATUFULL NATALIE DELON.I JUST FOUND OUT YESTERDAY SHE PASSED-WAY. REST IN PEACE NATALIE.

I was struggling to pick a film to watch last night, and messaged my brother (both he and I are kinda cinephiles), and he and my brother-in-law insisted that I watch that. Within the first minutes I was absolutely gripped. Ordered the Criterion version immediately aha. A truly stunning film!

un très bon film en effet. Voir aussi le cercle rouge

The surprise when I saw this thumbnail was gigantic. Great classic.

I think Jeff uses the "code" to survive the world that he does not understand ...

I worked as a background actor on the set of Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim and i used to walk around the set just praising Le Samourai and recommending it to people. I even chatted with Guillermo del Toro and lamented on how its so hard to find a trenchcoat like the one worn by Alain Delon. Then the following week, I come to the set at Pinewood and the first thing i see is an older Chinese gentleman dressed up exactly like Jef Costello. 😂

Alain Delon, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura and finally Yves Montand were great in the Melville movies! Samouraï, Le Doulos, the red circle , the army of shadows..

i saw it just yesterday (without prior knowledge of how great it was) and i loved it. it was surprising how much this movie expressed with such little dialogue. the steel-like precision of jeff along with his expressionless face at first seemed phony or cliche (even though i realized that im watching this in 2020 so my idea of cliche might not be a thing back then) but as things went on, his stature made remarkable sense. i thought this is what must happen when someone does what he does for too long. i admired his resilience even though it never seemed he enjoyed anything that life offered. and at the end, his final meeting with jane where he almost shows longing... to me that slither of an emotion is what paints his character even better. the visual was so deliberate. i loved how everyone in the film was so aware of their bleak surroundings that you felt compelled to be as well. and great review, by the way!!

Le Samouraï and Drive are amongst my favourite films of all time.

Love this movie and Ghost Dog.

Thanks for reviewing this. I love Melville. This, Le Cercle Rouge, and Bob Le Flambour are very influential to me.

I loved this film it’s a film that I watch and rewatch without getting bored. Everything about it deserves paying great attention. I rewatch it to understand a new thing everyday. I finally understood why he had an unloaded gun thank you!

Best film ever made

This movie was awesome! It's now got me wanting to watch more like it.

BEST MOVIE EVER

Hola. Había leido en muchos libros de cine sobre esta película y finalmente hace unos pocos días atrás pude verla. Me impresionó y fascinó. Era mucho mejor de lo que esperaba. Realmente un cine de otro nivel, con una gran fotografía y encuadres muy poéticos... Sólo que no pude seguirla con tanta atención; es tonto pero cada vez que salía el protagonista yo no podía dejar de decirme lo increiblemente hermoso que era. Eso me distrajo un poco de la trama. Vale, sabía que Alain Delon había sido guapo, pero nunca imaginé que tanto y que además pudiera gustarme, pues tengo prejuicios contra los franceses. Tendré qe verla otra vez.

One of my favorite films

my favorite film of all time ! simply amazing

I was amazed by the film. A film everybody needs to see.

just had knee surgery, this was a treat, thank you.

U should do a review on "plein soleil" starting Alain Delon too

Such an incredible film wow so amazing

Great video. Your analysis made me appreciate a classic even more.

Yes. Great to see you reviewing classics as well!

One of the greatest

Again, I am so grateful for your videos and insight.

Watched this last night, amazed the hell out of me.

Great film

definitely will watch it.you dig some gems...

i like a gritty french noir, i'll have to hunt it down.

The more i look at this movie, the more I realize that Melville didn't have any super clear vision while doing it, or maybe he cared about the mood more. Did you know that according to interview with Melville Jeff was (sic) a schizophrenic? - not sure what that was supposed to mean, and how that was communicated in the movie, but oh well. Great movie , Really great video! You got a new sub, also, Its funny how i used the same shots for a video about this movie, as you did haha.

The final scene's significance is lost on the narrator: In life freedom equates with calling your own shots, all else is delusion. 'Costello' is perfectly aware of the world around him, he merely engages with it on his own terms or embraces death. There can be no in-between.."I never lose, not ever." The 'Seductress' is the feminine archetype mirroring the 'Warrior'.. The Warrior's code, unlike everyday ppl, is unvarying. Between Jef and the Nightclub singer the same unvarying code exists. Though he knows the detail to kill her is a set up, he accepts his fate in order to place a marker. Bravura being the inward flourish outwardly expressed as gesture..it is the Warrior's nom de plume..

even john woo took the story when he made the hong kong version: the killer.

Thank you so much for making a video essay on Le Samouraï! It's one of my favourite noir films--my absolute favourite being 1942's This Gun for Hire. Do you have any plans for covering This Gun for Hire in a future video?

looks nice

Thanks for everything.

THanks!!!

Wow what a gray world. Can't wait to watch this!

Отличное видео, спасибо!

the Criterion blu ray looks incredible

You should also check the red circle (le circle rouge)

You hit the points exactly

In my top 10 films

Muy interesante tu video me alegro que tenga subtitulos en español

Yoooo he's literally me.

I never got the ending of this movie. The guy could've just gone under the radar or went away to another city for a while (kinda like Michel in Bresson's Pickpocket, who moves from city to city to avoid getting caught). He never had to sacrifice himself, he already killed the guy who gave him the contract to kill the pianist, so there is no threat to the pianist anymore.

She wasn’t a singer, she was a piano player.

Thanks Alex Turner for turning me onto this film

I think his mistake was doing the job too close to home.

I don't know why but while watching "Le Samourai", i was constantly having flashbacks of Michael Mann's cinemas.

Next film: Le Unbreakable

I’m confused as to how he shifted the blame from Jane to the singer. Now the police know Jef was the killer, they know for sure Jane was lying and can have her done for perjury?

She's not a singer. She's a pianist.

I think this film may have been influenced by the early film noir This Gun For Hire starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.

A critic once wrote that Melville (an antifascist Partisan himself) used to picture gangsters as Partisans and Partisans as gangsters: living among shadows until they became shadows themselves, trusting no one, forfetting their own names... seems quite legit.

The French Anton Chigur

i didnt understand the ending, did he go in with the intention of dying so Jane would be protected? How does the unloaded gun shift the blame from Jane to the pianist?

which Alain Delon films would you talk about next? Borsalino? Borsalino & Co? La Pisicine? i really wish there was a high brown film essay in english about La Piscine

Great video, although I would not say Jef Costello takes pride in his actions. One could argue he is determined to act upon the duty he was assigned and thus only completes a singular fulfilling mission. I suppose this movie is as much about the aspect of solitude as it is about the irrationality of love.

I don't think the ending meant Jef was trying to "change the blame" on Valerie. Melville says "Jef falls in love with his death," meaning the pianist, "a black Death in white." I don't understand the ending entirely but Valerie is really the catalyst, not Jane. It is such an amazing film though!

Jack have you noticed one element in lot of noirs, even in Le Samourai which is that a lot of key events in the film take place at night?

Wow you really butchered his name. Alain Delon is pronounced like Ah-lahn Duh-lon

You gotta read the samurai books to get the full effect 🤙

hey , im sorry for the gimicky weird question but what's the ambient music that you start the video with? sounds atmospheric and i personally liked it for its contemplative merits

This film is almost impossible to get in the UK. You can get most of Melville's films but no company has released this in a region 2 format. it's so frustrating.

He just like me 💯

at 4.30 a fly lands on her hand..😋

Anyone know how I can watch this film online? It's not on iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, filmstruck, bfi player etc. etc.

I'm still confused about why the singer had the same address as the contractor he killed. Who was she really? Why did the guy want her dead?

I'm a caged bird how much do I miss the sky cants explained

What a strange way to pronounce Alain Delon

Nice review. Thank you. Can I make a suggestion for those of us who have never seen the movie... SPOILER ALERT! in the title might be appropriate since you show the ending. Otherwise, thanks for your review.

:D

acho que se na cena final ele matasse ela mesmo não querendo, e depois na mesma cena é morto

Reminds me of Hitman.

e'laynn de'lonn : ah ! ha ! ha ! lui il doit pas piger grand chose à la version en langue originale

Press E to wake up

I don't know casca could sing

Yeah a formalist masterpiece hated by the critics because there is zero illusion of freedom. It's all about the preparation for the moment of Zen death. Melville in his great trilogy with Delon Le Samourai Circle Rouge Un Flic works through the patterning of misogyny suicide betrayal nihilism with more than a touch of his Gestapo Resistance experiences but right there in the middle of the swinging 60s it's cold perfection theorom of the anti life hated by especially the left critics snubbed by the rest of the new wave. Influence? Nothing produced since comes any near it as a statement about human futility. Lot of wannabees but only imitations and thefts of the inferior Yanks which are cringe making. Like he said he was making Japanese films not American Noir. The blend of French introversion and Zen was a natural fusion.