Synopsis
The backstabbing criminals in the shadowy underworld of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le doulos have only one guiding principle: “Lie or die.” A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust? Shot and edited with Melville’s trademark cool and featuring masterfully stylized dialogue and performances, Le doulos (slang for "informant") is one of the filmmaker’s most gripping crime dramas.
Cast
| Silien | Jean-Paul Belmondo |
| Maurice Faugel | Serge Reggiani |
| Thérese | Monique Hennessy |
| Superintendant Clain | Jean Desailly |
| Gilbert Varnove | René Lefèvre |
| Jean | Phillippe March |
Credits
| Director | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| Screenplay | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| From the novel by | Pierre Lesou |
| Cinematography | Nicolas Hayer |
| Music | Paul Misraki |
| Editing | Monique Bonnot |
| Production Design | Daniel Guéret |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- Selected-scene audio commentary by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris
- Video interviews with directors Volker Schlöndorff and Bertrand Tavernier, who served as assistant director and publicity agent, respectively, on the film
- Archival interviews with Melville and actors Jean-Paul Belmondo and Serge Reggiani
- Original theatrical trailer
- New and improved subtitle translation
- PLUS: A new essay by film critic Glenn Kenny
From the Current
Le doulos: Walking Ghosts
by Oct 6, 2008It is pretty much a convention of the hard-boiled gangster picture that most, if not all, of the principal characters wind up dead by the final shot. So it ought...
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