- Anyone who has seen a Jean-Pierre Melville film or an interview with the trenchcoated director himself would immediately notice his affection for film noir. It is interesting, then, that Le Doulos is really the first film of his I've seen that fits most classical definitions of that genre, even if it is fashionably late to the party. The story revolves around a newly-paroled thief Maurice (Serge Reggiani) and the "finger-man" (i.e. police informer) Silien (Jean-Paul Belmondo). When we meet Maurice at the film's opening, he has already committed a jewel heist, which he quickly follows by murdering his accomplice and burying the loot. His so-called friend Silien, meanwhile, tortures Maurice's girlfriend Therese (Monique Hennessy) into revealing where Maurice's next heist will take place. When this heist is spoiled by the police, Maurice naturally suspects Silien of having informed on him. The usual potboiler plot follows with everybody trying to outmaneuver everybody else before the cops close in...or at least that's what we're meant to expect.
- About two-thirds of the way through the film, however, we are treated to a real surprise. In flashback, we discover that Silien's various machinations were in actuality attempts to help Maurice. All along, Silien has been trying to appear to help the police superintendent Clain (Jean Desailly) while in fact working to redirect the blame for Maurice's crimes to the gangster Nuttheccio (Michel Piccoli), whose girlfriend Fabienne (Fabienne Dali) is an old flame of Silien's. In fact, Silien has gone so far as to kill Therese, the real police informer. Unfortunately, Maurice has already ordered a hit on Silien for his perceived betrayal, and he rushes to prevent the murder from taking place. With the tragic inevitability that only film noir can deliver, Maurice's efforts are fatally unsuccessful.
- This is an impressive film in several respects, but I was most taken with Melville's use of lighting and set design. Whereas most of Melville's films take place in a recognizable version of Paris, the settings in Le Doulos look ripped out of a nightmare. When Maurice buries the loot, he uses the creepiest, foggiest, most threatening empty field imaginable. Likewise, his initial walk through the opening titles passes through the darkest alleys one would hope not to encounter in a...well, you get the idea. These settings compliment the bleak and fatalistic tone of the film perfectly and remind me that, despite Melville's outstanding use of color in later films, some moods can only be established using black and white.
- Although I'm not generally a fan of the expository flashback, I think it was used well enough in this film. In particular, the sudden plot twist allowed Le Doulos to become an interesting study in honor (and misunderstanding) amongst thieves in addition to an excellent crime drama. One sometimes marvels at Melville's treatment of women, though. In Le Doulos, the women are at best unreliable and at worst driven off a cliff. Just once it would be nice to see a woman who didn't betray one of Melville's antiheroes. I suppose the femme fatale is a noir tradition, though, so in that and all other respects Le Doulos is exemplary of the genre.
- Bosley Crowther of the NY Times apparently completely misinterpreted the plot of this film in his review.
- I'm proud to admit that I bought this as a region 2 DVD because I couldn't get a hold of it in the States.
