Bob the Gambler

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CKB In 1954 Jean Gabin's flagging career was rebooted by Touchez pas au grisbi, a gritty crime film about an aging gangster protecting the last of his loot from the younger competition. The next year American expatriate Jules Dassin (blacklisted in the communist witch hunts back home) directed the brilliant Rififi, father of caper films, which featured a 30 minute heist sequence without dialogue or music. In his 1956 Bob le Flambeur, Jean-Pierre Melville combined basic elements of both films in a minimalist film noir that directly inspired the upcoming French New Wave directors. Working with a small budget that he was raising as he went along, Melville had trouble casting the title role, and settled on down-on-his luck 1930s actor Roger Duchesne, who had done jail time for his shady relations with the Gestapo during WWII and hadn't acted since. This turned out to be a perfect match for this character study of inveterate gambler Bob, who sees his life is going nowhere and decides to pull one last big robbery. This film is beautifully photographed by Henri Decaë, documenting the street life of Montmartre in the 1950s in an oddly wistful manner. Bob represents pre-war criminals who followed a code of sorts, and he sometimes seems like a badass Monsieur Hulot as he moves through a postwar world where honor doesn't count any more. This is the first of Melville's films to present coolness as a way of life, and Bob is the most accessible of his stylish, unflappable criminal characters, since actor Duchesne, a wounded being in his own right, lets his vulnerability show through his smooth exterior. Melville couldn't pay much, but he often got by with limited actors as long as they looked right. Thus he could use nonactors to great effect – the thugs Bob hires for his heist were played by actual criminals with just the right bad boy faces for their part (and they worked cheap). Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/09/23 Full Review Audience Member For the serious film aficionado, a natural state of reverence emerges when considering "Bob le Flambeur's" seminal place in the context of film history. It has a somewhat crude and experimental quality, characteristic of the evolving film-maker who is embarking on a promising yet still budding path towards eventual mastery of his craft. In "Bob Le Flambeur," we are captivated by the coolly stylized materials that Melville has assembled together, even though the film frequently exhibits a dispassionately rote quality that inhibits full audience engagement with the story. All things considered, much of what charms us about Melville's vision of the gangster genre is present here, and the portrait of the eponymous Bob resonates with its striking iconic qualities. To watch "Bob le Flambeur" is to witness a talented filmmaker boldly unfurling his potential, and we can't help but feel impressed with the uniquely promising results. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/14/23 Full Review William L A classic heist flick with all the problems of a classic - there is so much that draws from earlier gangster films, and so much of the burglary storyline that has been emulated in years since, that you get the nagging feeling watching Bob le Flambeur that you've seen much of it before. Actually, it's less of a nagging feeling and more of a burglar alarm ringing in your ear, but you can hardly fault the film for incorporating common genre elements or being influential. Duchesne is still effortlessly cool as Bob - suave, experienced, but still willing to take risks when they present themselves; having now seen this film, the parallels to Philip Baker Hall's Sydney in Paul Thomas Anderson's feature directorial debut Hard Eight are hard to ignore. It's hard not to enjoy a well-realized depiction of any underworld, and Melville's cast of Parisian smooth-talkers is an easy crowd to get lost in. The film ends on a surprisingly uplifting note, given the fact that the heist itself fails and one of their number has just been gunned down moments before. Despite its familiarity, Bob le Flambeur is still dripping with style and remains notable for its role in film history, with many citing it as a progenitor of the French New Wave. (3.5/5) Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/18/21 Full Review david f A great heist picture. If only Bob had kept to his gambling! Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review paul d Bob le Flambeur is a movie with a very light touch about some important themes: gambling, addiction, friendship, and honor among thieves, just to name a few. It is also a deep character study and a beautifully-shot look into the world of small time gamblers and gangsters in post-war Paris. It is a visual treat, with spare dialogue and a slow pace that allows all the rich details of place, character and story to emerge. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Bir yandan Kumarbaz Bob'un kumarın her türüne dair doymak bilmez bir iştahı, diğer yandan soygun planı... Kumarbaz Bob, Fransız sinemasının kendinden sonra gelen soygun filmlerine yol gösteren, Yeni Dalga'nın ayak seslerini hissettiren, dış ses kullanılan filmlerinden biri. Final sahnesi zayıf ama kişilerin tutkularına, bağımlılıklarına düşkünlüğünü gösterebilmesi açısından pek başarılı. Isabelle Corey de cabası. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/23/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Bob the Gambler

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