The Films of Jean-Pierre Melville: An Introduction

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Why haven’t I seen more films by Jean-Pierre Melville? It’s a question that I cannot answer, because the films of his I have seen, I’ve all quite liked. For years and years, that meant just three films – Bob La Flambeur (1956), Le Samourai (1967) and Army of Shadows (1969) – and nothing else. I know why I didn’t watch more at that time – many weren’t easy to find – but as they’ve all become available, I don’t know why I didn’t keep up. On Criterion Channel a few months ago, I caught up with his debut – Le Silence de la mer from 1949 – and loved it, and having been meaning to see some of the others. Now I see that all but his third film – When You Read This – are available there, and the whole filmography is only 13 features and a short. I plan to watch the other 12 features in the coming weeks. No pre-ranking, since I’ve only seen four at this point – but I’ll watch the 12, review them, and rank them at the end.

 

1. Le Silence de la mer (1949)
2. Les Enfants Terribles (1950)
3. Bob la Flambeur (1956)
4. Two Men in Manhattan (1959)
5. Leon Morin, Priest (1961)
6. Le Doulos (1962)
7. Magnet of Doom (1963)
8. Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966)
9. Le Samourai (1967)
10. Army of Shadows (1969)
11. Le Cercle Rouge (1970)
12. Un Flic (1972)