The macho criminal underworld of French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville has a particularly nasty, nearly misogynistic edge this time around. The women (what few there are) are either impatiently dismissed or revealed to be conniving liars, while the men – always stoic beneath the brims of their hats – do their best to uphold honor among thieves. Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani play partners in crime who begin to suspect each other after a botched house robbery. Cigarettes are smoked, trench-coat collars are flipped up and women are smacked, but only when they “deserve it.” Melville – whose precise camera positioning and intricate lighting schemes could make a lamp a key character – offers another sleek evocation of the American film-noir era. It’s too bad, though, that he didn’t do better by its femmes fatales.
