The Films of Jean-Pierre Melville: Le Doulos (1962)

Le Doulos (1962) 

Directed by: Jean-Pierre Melville.

Written by: Jean-Pierre Melville based on the novel by Pierre Lesou.

Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo (Silien), Serge Reggiani (Maurice Faugel), Jean Desailly (Le commissaire Clain), René Lefèvre (Gilbert Varnove), Marcel Cuvelier (Un inspecteur), Philippe March (Jean), Fabienne Dali (Fabienne), Monique Hennessy (Thérèse), Carl Studer (Kern), Christian Lude (Le docteur), Jacques De Leon (Armand), Paulette Breil (Anita), Philippe Nahon (Remy), Daniel Crohem (L'nspecteur Salignari), Michel Piccoli (Nuttheccio).

 

Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Doulos is one of those crime thrillers so full of double crosses and misdirection’s that even if you had the whole thing mapped out, I’m still not sure it would make all that much sense. That is part of the point in this film about “no honor among thieves” as the film takes great pleasure in deliberately misdirecting the audience in its story where it’s impossible to know who to trust and how to root for – and you just sign up to go along for the ride. It may not be as deep about morality as some of Melville’s later gangster pictures would become – but it’s perhaps even more entertaining.

 

We are informed from the start the a Doulos is a type of hat worn by police informants – and the film deliberately tries to keep you guess as to which of its characters is really the so-called finger man in question. Melville delights in shooting men with similar builds, wearing similar clothes and hats from behind, all to make things even murkier. When the film opens, we are following Maurice Faugel (Serge Reggiani) who has just been released from serving our years in prison. The long, brilliant opening scene sees Maurice go see an “old friend” about getting a “job”, some money and perhaps a gun. But in what will become part of the storytelling of Le Doulos, the scene ends with Maurice doing something that at first seems explainable – but later, in a dialogue heavy scene, will make sense in retrospect. Melville does this repeatedly throughout the film – providing the reasons for things after the action.

 

At times in the film, the focus will shift to Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo) – an old friend, and crime partner of Maurice’s, who is perhaps looking to get out of the game before he ends up in jail or dead. The film, of course, wants us to believe that Silien is the finger man – and truly, we see a lot that directly points at him. But is the film playing straight with us – or is it doing more of that misdirection? Or is Melville three moves ahead, and knows that by making Silien look guilty, we’ll assume he’s innocent, when really he’s guilty?

 

The movie will introduce a lot more characters – on both sides of the law – and none of them seem all that trustworthy. Motives are often murky – and there are long dialogue scenes between various characters where they both tell the truth and lie at the same time – so untangling fact and fiction becomes impossible. Melville delights in these long dialogue scenes – and keeping us on edge.

 

Of course, Melville was a master storyteller, and a master stylist – and he’s in top form through Le Doulos. The film moves quickly and smoothly – moving from one great sequence to the next, but always taking its time getting there. Quentin Tarantino has said the film was an influence on Reservoir Dogs – and you can see that in its story where criminals don’t know who to trust, and everyone is a rat. But you can see a greater influence perhaps in the way Melville takes his time in those dialogue scenes – that can on minute after minute, when most movies would simply want to get what is narratively needed out of a scene and move on. You learn a lot about these characters, even when they are lying to everyone. You can also see the films influence on things the Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s movie, or perhaps The Usual Suspects, with Belmondo’s long monologue at the end of the film, which untangles the web that has been weaved throughout the rest of the film (or perhaps just tangles it in a different way).

 

And it’s also just a delight to see these actors work. Belmondo is in his more classic mode here as the slick taking conman than he was in Leon Morin, Priest. Michel Piccoli is a delight in a smaller role as a gangster who has a great final scene. Everyone else is working at the top of their game as well. I suppose one could call the film misogynistic if they wanted to – the film certainly doesn’t treat its female characters very well – but then again, everyone in the movie is horrible in one way or another. It’s the type of film you simply strap in for an enjoy the ride – enjoy being conned and lied to, and trying to figure out what’s true and what’s not. I bet that’s true even the second, third – or tenth – time you watch this film.