- Le Samourai opens with a quote from "The Book of Bushido" describing how "there is no greater solitude than the samurai's, unless it be that of a tiger in the jungle...perhaps". Ignoring that the quote was fabricated by Jean-Pierre Melville, this single line is a perfect introduction to the assassin Jef Costello (Alain Delon). Jef lives alone in a small apartment and is the embodiment of utility. He has a pet bird, which would seem oddly sentimental, except that he uses the bird as a sort of burglar alarm. He likewise uses his girlfriend Jane (Nathalie Delon) and some gamblers for alibis and a mechanic for getting license plates and handguns. For transportation, Jef takes whatever car happens to be sitting around, neglecting of course to get the owner's permission.
- We never really discover whether Jef's isolation led to his choice of career or vice-versa. Although one would assume that a certain emotional detachment would be valuable for an assassin, it is in fact this quality that leads the police superintendent (Francois Perier) to suspect him in the murder of Martey, a nightclub owner. As the detective notes, Jef has a too-perfect alibi, and he is simply "not normal". Of all the characters in the amusing lineup (the term "trenchcoat convention" applies), Jef is by far the most cool and calculating. His icy stare never breaks, and he never thinks to act as an innocent man might. Fortunately for Jef, the nightclub singer and key witness Valerie (Caty Rosier) refuses to identify him, and he is allowed to leave police headquarters.
- Jef's interactions with Valerie are complex, but I think they reveal an important aspect of Jef's persona. He knows that she can identify him, yet he refuses on multiple occasions to kill her. I've seen it suggested that Jef is in love with Valerie, which may be partly correct, but I think that is too incomplete an interpretation. My own take is that his personal code of honor also forbids it. Although he is willing to kill those whom he is hired to kill and those who betray him, he cannot kill the woman who helped him escape the police. At the end, he realizes that his duty is to save both Valerie and Jane, which he accomplishes by intentionally stepping into the police trap.
- The look and tone of Le Samourai perfectly reflect Jef's relationship with the world. The first ten minutes of the film are completely dialogue-free and show Jef methodically getting ready for his job. One can easily imagine that Jef goes for days without talking to anyone, and ten minutes without film dialogue succeed in conveying this sense of perpetual isolation. Although the film is in color, the walls in Jef's apartment are washed out in the most desolate way imaginable. Likewise, the skies are either pitch black or show a diffuse twilight that makes everything a pale shade of blue. It's a bleak environment for a man who is truly alone in the world.
- Nathalie Delon and Alain Delon were married in real life.
- I can't list all of the films Le Samourai has influenced, but The Killer and Ghost Dog: Way of the Samourai come easily to mind.
