Second Breath

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12/06/2020 I'm glad there's a heist movie with a character that just goes by Gu, who as it happens is an all-time badass. That's all you need to know. See more 12/29/2017 best noir film I've ever seen - RBS See more 12/04/2016 I thoroughly enjoyed this film from Jean-Pierre Melville, master of the crime film. Melville has done several of my favourite films including: "Le Samourai", "Le Cercle Rouge and "Bob Le Flambeur". I enjoyed the story and all the characters. The film is long and at times a slow burn, but I got so invested in the story and the fates of the characters that it worked perfectly for me. I wasn't familiar with any of the actors but liked them all. Highly recommended! See more 08/13/2016 Another great robbery-thievery thriller from Melville. This might be called his "real" breakthrough, naturally in pure Melville style, precision, action, cop, villain. Whats not to like about Lino Ventura, great actor and cast. See more 08/25/2014 <i>Le Deuxième Souffle</i> is one hell of an interesting transition in style and execution considering Melville's trajectory. On one hand, there's the film-noir influences on his career which resulted in a few of the most important neo-noir contributions in cinema history, directed by Melville himself. <i>Bob le Flambeur</i> (1956) carried this. Then there's the complex web of character interrelations and double-crossings reunited by a primary plot and reacting in secondary subplots, the latter hiding the characters' motivations, interests and intentions. Melville achieves this with true brilliance. Each character is an evil entity of unpredictable moral. An unusual group of characters with various shadowy (and disturbing) backgrounds interacting with a common criminal purpose would reach its height in <i>Le Cercle Rouge</i> (1970), but this web of interrelationships would find its pinnacle in a WWII setting, which everybody recalls as <i>Army of Shadows</i> (1969), a horror testament of despair, conspiracies and deceit. Then there's the violence which plays an important role in Melville's films, which would allow him to close the decade with style and contribute to the ferocity of the neo-noir environment while influencing tons of future different filmmakers in the process. This technical stunt is one I mirror too often with the decisions of some modern directors to invade the "silent" (more subtle) tone of the story with sudden outbursts of hard-hitting violence, like a statement spoken out loud and directly. Belmondo's interrogation scene with a woman in <i>Le Doulos</i> (1962) had censors reacting everywhere. Second to last, we have the slow-pacing and high attention to detail that Melville made in the screenplays and in the execution of the scenes, which would then iconically materialize into fully elaborated heist sequences which realism and overtly prolonged dedications are born straightly from Dassin's masterpiece <i>Rififi</i> (1955), a film that I will never cease to give credit to. This feature would then be reflected in <i>Le Cercle Rouge</i> (1970) and in the director's farewell, <i>Un Flic</i> (1972). Finally, there's the shadowy, existentialist tone of it all, and this is where the transition aspect comes in. The film still feels like a noir heir from certain themes to the visual composition and a handful of characters, but is also a subliminal introduction to the loneliness of Jef Costello in <i>Le Samouraï</i> (1969), also noticeable in the protagonists of the world turned upside down in <i>Army of Shadows</i> (1969). In this sense, <i>Le Deuxième Souffle</i> is the Melville film that not only helped him to make a step forward towards his evolved style that assaulted the senses with tremendous power, but also is the only film of his that has all of his famous elements put together, which is maybe why it is his longest film, as far as I'm concerned. It's his most methodical facet. That is quite an epic homework to balance, but after a noticeable effort, everything paid off, including one of the best endings of the decade in European cinema. 91/100 See more 01/12/2014 Elegant but brutal, evocative but restrained, cold but human. Melville shows respect to both bleak sides of every coin. See more Read all reviews

Second Breath

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