Made in 1962, ‘Le doulos‘ is probably the most characteristic ‘film noir’ of Jean-Pierre Melville‘s career. It is also the film in which the French director expresses openly on screen, with cinematographic means, his total devotion to the American cinematography that inspired him. ‘Le doulos‘ looks like an American gangster movie from the ’30s or’ 40s. His heroes wear raincoats and hats borrowed from the heroes of those movies, mimic on the screen the grimaces of Humphrey Bogart and Edward G. Robinson, listen to jazz music, and even when ordering a drink prefer whiskey and nothing else. There is, however, an important recurring theme in Melville‘s films that dominates the story here as well – the code of honor of the mob. The heroes of ‘Le doulos‘ kill in cold blood, but are at the same time guided in their own way by moral laws and values, especally solidarity – different, of course, from the rest of the world around them.
Maurice Faugel (Serge Reggiani), recently released from prison, commits a crime whose apparent motive is robbery, but in fact it is a ‘setting of accounts’ related to a story from the past. When he is captured after another robbery that ended with the death of a police officer, the suspicions related to the source of the information that led the police to the crime scene fall on his friend Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo). While in prison, Maurice plans to take revenge, but it is Sillien who helps him get out, leading to the suspicions of the police to fall on another mob character (Michel Piccoli). What is the truth? Is Silien a lowly informer or a man of honor (according to the codes of the underworld) and a true friend? The story is a permanent game between cops, mobsters and informers, we are left to oscillate between suspicion and certainty, and what we see is not necessarily what it seems. The final also brings the clarification of the whole story in the last minutes of the film, and then we realize that the director and the writers have played until then with our perceptions and perspectives as spectators.
Almost everything is perfect from a cinematic point of view and withstands well the 58 years since the film was made. In 1962 the choice between black and white and color was a choice between two almost economically equivalent variants. The usage of black and white cinematography corresponds to the consistency with the model of classic American films. Also pay attention to the use of mirrors, one of the director’s favorite tricks. Some of the scenes filmed on the street (for example the scene that opens the film) remind us that Melville was contemporary (and a good friend) with the directors of the New French Wave. The only scenes that disappoint are the ones that happen in cars – they are so clumsy that I suspect, but I have no confirmation, that it was an intentional directorial decision, for the same purpose of getting the film a 30-ish look. Belmondo and Reggiani have solid parts and act perfectly, but what remains in the memory related to their characters are the rain clothes almost always present and their symbolic hats. ‘Le doulos‘ remains over the years a violent and interesting entertainment, set in a world created by Melville from characters imported from overseas and transplanted into the French landscape.