Bob le flambeur

Bob Le Flambeur opens with a glimmering shot of early morning Paris, where we find the rugged, nonchalant hood Bob Montagne, sauntering through the neon lit streets, looking every bit the icon of cinema that he is. To Bob, everything in life is a gamble, an uncertainty, a ten-to-one shot. He inhabits a world of games and chances... as the gravel voice narration points out, "the city can be both heaven and hell, as long as you know how to play it". He is, as the title suggests, a man who lives and loves gambling. A one-time crook now taking it easy, we find him huddled in a smoky apartment - the walls painted black and white like a chessboard - hard at work towards yet another pay off. When he isn't 'working', Bob lives the simple life, hanging out in bars with old pals or relaxing in his penthouse apartment. His only real companion is Paolo, a young tearaway who idolises and emulates Bob's look and lifestyle. The child of a former friend, Bob becomes the surrogate father figure to Paolo, looking out for him and making sure he isn't consumed by the lure of the mean streets.

Bob le Flambeur was one of Melville's earliest entries into the gangster cycle that would later give birth to his better-known film, Le Samourai. Like that film, Flambeur is a technically assured and understated journey into the underworld, employing a raw cinematic intensity, knowing irony and loose plot, which can probably be seen as an influence on contemporary filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Ringo Lam, Paul Thomas Anderson, John Woo, Quentin Tarantino, David Mamet and Wong Kar-Wai. It can also be seen as something of a revolutionary work, with Melville's bold use of real locations, available light and hand-held cameras offering an obvious precursor to the style of the later nouvelle vague, and, to great filmmakers like Godard, Chabrol and Truffaut. Like those directors, Melville has a strong understanding of genre conventions and the post-war Gangster ethos, and thus, crafts a film that is both European in style and sensibility, but at the same time, nods to the classic gangster movies of 30's and 40's Hollywood... giving us a cool and slick film, that still has enough edge and grit to make the characters seem like real people.

The plot unfolds at a natural pace, slowly at first, but gradually building momentum once all the major players have been introduced, with Melville creating something of a confrontational three-way struggle between Bob, Paolo and Isabelle Corey's deceptive femme-fatal. As the film progresses, we delve deeper into both the plot and the back story, finding Bob seriously out of pocket after a spot of bad luck at the casino... and, with only one way to go to get the cash back, he decides to pull off the ultimate gamble... by which, allow himself to be pulled back down into the criminal underworld that he'd almost escaped. From this point on the film becomes concerned with the intricacies of crime, the impact of friendship and the fixation and fundamental need to succeed, or else, forfeit the next ten to twenty years of your life... and for the aging Bob, this is not an option. At this point, loyalties are tested and precision film-making is pushed to the limits as the plot continues headlong towards its climax. The story takes all manner of twists and turns along the way, with Melville keeping the story rooted in the details of his characters and the intricacy of the crime it's self, so that by the end the film the whole thing has seemingly worked towards chance and blind luck... proving to some extent Melville's grand metaphor that life is the ultimate gamble.

Melville's film is one of the classic post-war noir films, if not one of the most important French films ever made... an evocative depiction of glistening black and white France, replete with shady gangsters, crooked cops, gambling dens, back street cafés and the ultimate heist, made all the more potent by the astounding performance of Roger Duchesne as the laconic and iconic Bob, and with great support from Daniel Cauchy as Paulo, Isabelle Corey as the wide-eyed Anne and Guy Decomble as Inspector Ledru.

Absent of the stylization of "Le Samurai" and not as gritty or violent as crime thrillers of the 60's, "Bob the Gambler", from Jean Pier Melville, is none the less an important film historically for it's influence on the crime genre, heist films specifically. However, how does it hold up as a film?

Certainly there is sufficient build up to the heist. We see every step of the planning, with plenty of twists and turns leading up to it, and once things get started, the suspense is certainly there, though without giving anything away, the suspense doesn't come the way one would expect it to, but the tension is definitely there. There is violence, though not a whole lot, and it's obscured, so don't expect much in the way of high octane gun action.

While the sections of the film dealing with the heist itself, the planning, build up and execution would all be enough to make this a fine film, what elevates it even more is the characterization. Bob is a a retired criminal, who all ready served twenty years in prison. Now friends with a cop and living seemingly straight, he's none the less prone to gambling and losing. He takes a father like role to Paulo, who aspires to be like him, and takes a liking to a young woman, Anne. He's seemingly a good person, willing to help others whenever he can. However, when he loses most of his fortune on a foolish bet, he gets a team together for a grand scale heist. This film is about more than a heist, it's about a flawed man whose vices will ensure he is never completely on the straight and narrow. Paulo also falls prey to his desire to win over and impress Anne, at any cost. The highlight of the film for me is the characters, fully realized and done justice by fantastic performances from everyone involved. I won't spoil the ending, but it's one of those endings that makes you completely rethink your earlier perceptions.

Cinematography, while not as amazing as "Le Samurai", is still something to appreciate, with clear influences from American crime and noir films.

SHould be approached as more of a crime drama than a full out, action packed heist film. Definitely recommended.

It just doesn't get much better than this. Visually, this is one of the most stunning and sumptuous feasts your eyes will ever experience. From the early-morning streets of Paris to apartments, nightclubs and bars, Melville captures a moment for all eternity. It doesn't hurt either that the acting is great and the leading lady is beautiful. Simply stated, this is one of the most enjoyable movie experiences one can have.

If I wanted to get all analytical, I might write about the way Melville has taken the conventions of the American gangster movie and humanized them by populating his movie with sympathetic, emotionally-rich characters. But what really matters, in the end, is that this movie is enormously fun and should not be missed.

Coming a few years before Jean-Pierre Melville's ongoing obsession with trenchcoats and fedoras, Bob Le Flambeur is probably his most traditional noir flick, centered around the titular Bob (played by Roger Duchesne), an aging gangster who decides to go in for one final gamble by robbing a local casino. He recruits a small group of partners to come in with him, but the arrival of the beautiful young Anne (played with compelling charm by Isabelle Corey) throws a rift in the dynamic of the group and we all know how a girl can bring the downfall of a great many men.

It's all relatively standard procedure, but it's interesting to see Melville developing what would eventually become his trademark style. The film doesn't have the unbelievably slick style of Le Samourai or the brooding grit of Le Doulos, but at times you can see pieces of each and it's all built around an interesting central figure. Bob is a man who we never get the chance to fully explore, but it's that stoicism, that mystery, that makes him all the more engaging. Duchesne plays him with a haunted, world-worn reserve that reminded me of the kind of stuff that George Clooney has been doing for the last five years or so. Bob Le Flambeur ends up being a character study more than anything else, which made me kind of curious as to why Bob essentially takes a backseat to the supporting characters for the middle stretch of the film.

After the first act establishes him he almost disappears and we instead focus a lot more on the cops and Bob's young protégé Paolo (Daniel Cauchy). It was a disappointing turn, made all the more so by how interesting things got once we returned full-on to Bob in the final act. It's a diversion that's easy to understand in order to bring about the conflicts that drive the overall narrative, but it made me wish that we had been focusing on him entirely the whole time. Still, it's an ultimately minor complaint in an otherwise solid, if not overly impressive Melville entry. The film features an excellent ending as well, closing out on a high point.

Bob le flambeur (1956)

**** (out of 4)

Outstanding heist film about an old-time gangster and gambler (Roger Duchesne) who finds himself broke when he hears that a casino will have a large sum of cash available for the taking. Even though his friends and even the police warn him against it, he decides to try for one last heist. The French noir genre seems to be growing more and more popular each passing year as film buffs continue to check out new, forgotten or need-to-be rediscovered films from the genre. I came to this one first as I had heard it was one of the greatest and it's somewhat hard to imagine, after seeing it, that anything else could really come close. Everything runs so smoothly that one can't help but be entertained by the events going on and especially the noir-ish acts of always blaming the women for everything that goes wrong. This film comes off so fresh and original that one can't help but imagine what it must have been like in 1956 when this stuff really was ground breaking. One of the many positive aspects is the terrific cinematography that constantly has the film floating around and really giving us a great look at the streets, the casino and various other important things for the plot. The way the music score just blends in so well with the cinematography is certainly "New Wave" but it still looks fresh all these years later. Melville's screenplay also offers up some terrific dialogue that really puts you in the middle of what's going on to the point where you feel as if you really are watching real professionals getting ready to pull off a heist. What also stands out are the performances with Duchesne who is wonderful in the title role. I really loved the laid back approach to the character and felt Duchesne had so much energy building up inside of him you couldn't help but keep your eyes on him and watch every little thing he did. Daniel Cauchy, Andre Garet and Gerard Buhr add nice support and it was fun seeing Howard Vernon in a small role years before his work with Jess Franco. Then we have Isabelle Corey who in my opinion steals the show. According to the IMDb she was only 16 when this was released but she certainly captures the sexuality of the role very well and she sizzles each time she is on the screen. It's certainly easy to see why these guys would fall all over her. I'm still very new to Melville but this here is certainly an impressive start and I look forward to checking out more of his work.