2nd Edition (January 2012). Over 17,900 words.
A comprehensive and detailed presentation of four French film noir classics, all by Jean-Pierre Melville: Le Samourai, Un Flic, Le Doulos, and Le Cercle Rouge.
“Film Noir”, which means “black film” in French, is actually an American art form first introduced during the ‘40s through American films such as “The Big Sleep”, “The Big Heat”, “Out of the Past”, “The Set-Up”, “Night and the City”, “Gun Crazy” and “D.O.A.”.
Common to all film noir works is the story of a detective or an “inspector” up against a killer, shot in stark black-and-white photography. There is also always a “love interest” but the relationship with either the detective or the anti-hero antagonist is never culminated in a happy end.
About a hundred volumes have been written about the “theory and practice” of film noir but in this ebook we turn our attention to French film noir since they really re-defined the genre through the classics presented here.
The film noir template as developed by Melville and his admirers has taken the French film industry by such a storm that even the films which were not true film noirs adopted and mimicked the external symbols of the genre like fedora hats, trench coats, cars driven off the cliffs, steam trains rolling by, and the high-contrast B&W photography. One such imitator, for example, is the “Joy House” (1964), a film by the French filmmaker Rene Clement and which stars Alain Delon and Jane Fonda. Even though the main story line has little to do with core film noir themes, it nevertheless uses its symbols at every opportunity.
This is the most detailed exposition of these unforgettable Melville classics in print. Enjoy!
INCLUDED:
1) Plot points
2) Detailed story line, with all twists and turns
3) Selected dialogues
4) Selected trivia.
LE DOULOS (The hat/Informer) (1962) (over 6,800 words)
>>> Who is betraying whom? No honor lost between thieves.
LE SAMOURAI (1967) (over 3,900 words)
>>> Jef is a killer for hire. But what he’s going to do when he is paid to kill the very same woman who stood by him for reasons known only to her?
LE CERCLE ROUGE (The Red Circle) (1970) (over 2,400 words)
>>> Perhaps some criminals are too good for their own good, especially when there is a police inspector on their tail who is not only determined but very patient as well.
UN FLIC (Dirty Money) (1972) (over 3,900 words)
>>> Does crime pay, especially when the cop and the bank robber know each other well and, on top of it, love the same woman?
A comprehensive and detailed presentation of four French film noir classics, all by Jean-Pierre Melville: Le Samourai, Un Flic, Le Doulos, and Le Cercle Rouge.
“Film Noir”, which means “black film” in French, is actually an American art form first introduced during the ‘40s through American films such as “The Big Sleep”, “The Big Heat”, “Out of the Past”, “The Set-Up”, “Night and the City”, “Gun Crazy” and “D.O.A.”.
Common to all film noir works is the story of a detective or an “inspector” up against a killer, shot in stark black-and-white photography. There is also always a “love interest” but the relationship with either the detective or the anti-hero antagonist is never culminated in a happy end.
About a hundred volumes have been written about the “theory and practice” of film noir but in this ebook we turn our attention to French film noir since they really re-defined the genre through the classics presented here.
The film noir template as developed by Melville and his admirers has taken the French film industry by such a storm that even the films which were not true film noirs adopted and mimicked the external symbols of the genre like fedora hats, trench coats, cars driven off the cliffs, steam trains rolling by, and the high-contrast B&W photography. One such imitator, for example, is the “Joy House” (1964), a film by the French filmmaker Rene Clement and which stars Alain Delon and Jane Fonda. Even though the main story line has little to do with core film noir themes, it nevertheless uses its symbols at every opportunity.
This is the most detailed exposition of these unforgettable Melville classics in print. Enjoy!
INCLUDED:
1) Plot points
2) Detailed story line, with all twists and turns
3) Selected dialogues
4) Selected trivia.
LE DOULOS (The hat/Informer) (1962) (over 6,800 words)
>>> Who is betraying whom? No honor lost between thieves.
LE SAMOURAI (1967) (over 3,900 words)
>>> Jef is a killer for hire. But what he’s going to do when he is paid to kill the very same woman who stood by him for reasons known only to her?
LE CERCLE ROUGE (The Red Circle) (1970) (over 2,400 words)
>>> Perhaps some criminals are too good for their own good, especially when there is a police inspector on their tail who is not only determined but very patient as well.
UN FLIC (Dirty Money) (1972) (over 3,900 words)
>>> Does crime pay, especially when the cop and the bank robber know each other well and, on top of it, love the same woman?
