Le deuxième souffle

What I find is that a great film of great length, whether slow paced or not, is life a sheep in wolf's clothing. However intimidating a run time may look, the greats go by quicker than many 90 minute efforts. Whether it's Solaris(1972) and Andrei Rubev(1966) in just short o9f 3 hours, or Seven Samurai(1954) and Godfather II(1974) in excess of 200 minutes, there films to me never feel their length and always justify it. While many have commented on "Second Wind" (using the English title for simplicity's sake) running time, rest assured, it too is deceptive.

The film opens abruptly into the finale of an escape sequence from prison, giving no breathing room as you are thrown into the action. One man dies but the other two make it out, as we go to an atmospheric opening credits sequence of the two running through the forest, with little to no music. Only one of the escapees is of concern to us, Gustave Minda (regularly called Gu), put behind bars for a train robbery gone wrong. He comes back to his old stomping grounds, rescuing his sister and loyal friend from a pair of thugs. Their murder further brings heat down on him in a case led by Blot, a wise cracking but crafty inspector. Many plot points are running intersect, including a battle over the cigarette business and the forming of a heist, the latter of which Gu is drawn into in order to have some money when he leaves the country. While there are a lot of characters and going ons to keep track of, as long as one is paying attention, following along is simple, as Melville masterfully brings these plot points together.

This is a dialogue and character heavy movie, making it more similar to "Bob the Gambler" (1955) than "Le Samurai(1967). While maybe not as snappy as Godard, or Tarantino for a more modern example, Melville's films were always strong in dialogue, and this is no exception. This movie is composed of a string of home running scenes. Whether it's humorous, like inspector Blot's sarcastic rant on the unwillingness of a restaurant's employees and customers to comment on the shooting that had occurred, or serious, such as a trio of gangsters confronting a man they believe set them up, there are no wasted scenes or dull moments, whether five minutes or twenty. There's nothing here story wise that is of particularly new ground: a noir style fatalism, a police force as corrupt as the criminals they pursue, political intrigue and betrayals, however it doesn't matter. Originality is welcome but not necessary in anything, and here we see these familiar threads executed with such enthusiasm, backed by strong performances all around, that it hardly matters whether one has seen these things before. If there is one possibly original aspect, it is in it's ending which I won't spoil here. It's a small, but important moment, and much like his follow up "Le Samurai"(1967), widely open to interpretation.

Melville is known for his awesome visuals and mood, and this is no exception. His love of noir is apparent in the perfectly dark lighting, combined with an often minimal soundtrack that aids in creating a mood of dread in many scenes. This is actually a much more subdued effort for Melville in that regard, but it works here as the focus is much more on story and characters.

Not to be missed for fans of crime films.

Melville's 'Le deuxième souffle' as many of his other works, reflects the same particular and distinctive style of Melville. The film proposes more or less all Melville's usual themes (relations and tensions between cops and thugs, violence, loyalty, forbidden love and friendship). Melville managed the film admirably with coherent storytelling, masterful directing, slow but infinitely good rhythm and especially his intriguing characters, portrayed by a fantastic cast. An excellent dramatic crime film that marks Jean-pierre Melville's iconic era.

A great watch.

Three prisoners break from the prison and the notorious Gustave 'Gu' Minda (Lino Ventura) is the only one that survives. He heads to Paris where he meets his lover Manouche (Christine Fabrega) and his friend and Manouche's bodyguard Alban (Michel Constantin) that take him to a hideout. Meanwhile the smart Commissary Blot (Paul Meurisse) is investigating a shooting plotted by the mobster Jo Ricci (Marcel Bozzufi) and the gangster Jacques the Lawyer (Raymond Loyer) that is murdered.

Gu decides to travel to Italy but he is short of money; his friend Orloff (Pierre Zimmer) invites him to participate in the heist of an armored truck with his friend Paul Ricci (Raymond Pellegrin) and the gangsters Antoine (Denis Manuel) and Pascal (Pierre Grasset) in Marseille. The talkative Inspector Fardiano (Paul Frankeur) is responsible for the investigation, but the persistent Commissary Blot believes that Gu is behind the scheme.

"Le Deuxième Soufflé" is a realistic police story by Jean-Pierre Melville with great performances. It is impressive how I did not feel the 150 minutes running time, since the screenplay is very well written. The code of honor of Gu contrasts with the lack of ethics of the police detectives. The duel between Gu and Blot is another attraction of this great movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Os Profissionais do Crime" ("The Professionals of the Crime")

... from France and French director Jean-Pierre Melville

An aging criminal, Gustave "Gu" Minde, breaks out of prison after having been there for ten years and is therefore being searched for by the police. He wanted to hide out in another country, but has insufficient funds to do so. He signs on to one last caper so he can retire - the heist of 800 million francs worth of platinum from an armored car. This will require the killing of the two motorcycle cops accompanying the armored car, and the killing of one of them is Gu's part in the crime. He doesn't like the idea of doing this, but ultimately looks upon it as just business, not personal - like he's firing some long time employee because of business conditions. Gu's attempt at staying free is complicated by Commissaire Blot, who is hot on his trail. Complications ensue.

This film at over 150 minutes in length did not drag at all, even though the heist doesn't occur until about 90 minutes into the film, because the characters are fascinating, even though there is a dearth of dialogue, maybe BECAUSE there is a dearth of dialogue. What these characters do speaks for themselves.

Gu is very interesting - A real antihero. We learn he has killed before the events in this film, and as I mentioned before he is not a psychopath who enjoys killing but does it when he considers it necessary. But what really bothers him is if his reputation for never talking to the authorities and giving up associates is impugned. For that reputation he will do most anything to restore his "honor", and that leads to the interesting conclusion.

The little things are very important in this film - the shot of the ants at work on the ground as the robbers wait for the armored car to appear on the desolate road, and a scene of Gu enjoying a good meal after having been in prison for so long.

I'd recommend this one. It was one of the most interesting heist films I've seen made in any nation. Kudos to Eddie Muller for showing this on Turner Classic Movie's Noir Alley.

I don't speak French, but the acting and the subtitled dialog are outstanding throughout.

The plot and each situation, each conversation, is completely credible, and follows naturally, yet not predictably, from what came before.

A note to younger audiences: there are no highly choreographed fight scenes or stylized gun battles (though there are fights and shooting). No throw-away romantic interest. No noticeable special effects. No wisecracking. No mood music telling you what to feel.

So, if you're used to recent Hollywood fare, it may seem slow.

But, to this noir-lover, it feels fresh, yet as gritty as a run-down apartment in a hundred year-old building.