Anti-Heroes: Le Samourai (Dir Jean-Pierre Melville, 1h45m, 1967)
No-one does the cinematic anti-hero like the French. Here they come in suit and tie, the iconic Belmondo in Godard's Breathless (1960); or or from the same year, in Bogart's trenchcoat, like Aznavour in Truffaut's Tirez sur le pianiste ( Shoot the Piano Player ), Lino Ventura in Claude Sautet's Classe tous risques, or later, both played by Belmondo, the unorthodox detective in Le Marginal , (dir. Jacques Deray, 1983) and as wronged secret agent in The Professional (dir. Georges Lautner, 1981), both in leather jackets, with a gun nonchalantly tucked into their waistband. Belmondo is cool, was cool, will always be cool. Delon is cooler. You admire Jean-Paul Belmondo; you want to be Alain Delon, at least the celluloid version. Above all, you - and a lot of actors you and I have heard of, and I have discussed before, really want to be Delon in Le Samouraï. Who wouldn't? Here,...
