Le Samouraï: Difference between revisions

 

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* [[Badass in a Nice Suit]]: In a suit, tie, trenchcoat, white gloves, and perfectly positioned fedora at all times. Jef Costello cares as much about his appearance as he does about his alibi.

* [[Batman Gambit]]: Jef plants himself outside his girlfriend's apartment when her other lover comes home before making his hit. Later, when the lover is brought in to identify Jef, he recognizes and fingers him, thinking he's nailing him for a crime, when in reality he's offering him an airtight alibi for the murder.

* [[Doomed Protagonist]]: Pretty much the whole idea behind the film and its take on the Crime genre.

* [[Film Noir]]: Seen as a definitive example of neo-noir films for its style and pacing. Even though it's a crime movie, it has only ''three'' scenes involving guns.

* [[Incest Subtext]]: Melville cast Nathalie Delon as Costello's first romantic interest because they looked more like siblings than lovers, and wanted that sort of awkwardness between them for the audience. It gets weird when you realize the two of them were husband and wife in real life, and [[Identical Stranger|not related at all]].

* [[Incredibly Obvious Bug]]: Subverted. When the Paris police sneak into assassin Jef Costello's apartment to plant a listening device, the one they initially choose is a huge black box with a big antenna and a red light. The officer puts it in the hiding place, scrutinizes it briefly, and then decides to go with a smaller model.

* [[Nice Hat]]

* [[The Oner]]: The opening shot of Jef on his couch, with a slow, jerky [[Vertigo Effect]] to go with it ([[Word of God]] says this is to emphasize Costello's lonliness and mental instability).

* [[Rule of Three]]: A dramatic example. We see the [[Crazy Prepared|massive ring of keys]] three times, twice from Costello and once from the police.

* [[Signature Style]]: Costello puts on white gloves before every kill. This is a trademark of Jean-Pierre Melville.

[[Category:Films of the 1960s]]

[[Category:Le Samourai]]