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Credits
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Summary
Once a renowned criminal, Bob the Gambler now contents himself with gambling, frequenting
casinos in the shady districts of Paris. He is convinced his gangster days are over
- until he meets up with an old accomplice who has news which interests him. The
casino at Deauville has a safe which is loaded with several hundred million francs.
Short of cash, Bob decides to plan one last great robbery. He recruits a number
of former fellow criminals and plans the theft to the greatest detail. Unfortunately,
on the day of the robbery, things rapidly begin to go wrong. Bob’s luck appears
to have taken an unexpected turn...
Review
Whilst lacking the sombre hard-edged impact of some of Melville’s latter gangster films,
Bob le flambeur is an impressive early outing for the director in his most successful
genre. The sense of tension and suspense is there, as in all of Melville’s thrillers,
but somehow this is a much lighter, more relaxed approach, even affording a few welcome
comic touches.
As one would expect from a script co-written by Melville, Bob and his accomplices are well drawn and believable individuals. Typically, Melville does not distinguish the moral perspective of the police and criminals - it is left to the viewer to judge, from their actions, who are the villains and who are the heroes. Veteran actor Roger Duchesne portrays Bob as a sympathetic rogue, a victim of circumstances - although clearly (as the last scene of the film shows) Bob’s morality is questionable. By creating an ambiguous moral position for the criminals and law enforcers, the story has much greater dramatic impact than the traditional gangster movie (where the roles are determined largely by conventional stereotypes), and allows greater opportunity for suspense and unpredictable plot developments. This is a device that Melville uses to even greater effect in his later films, such as Le Doulos and Le Samouraï . Another thing which sets this film apart from its contemporaries is the photography. Henri Decae’s filming is a real break with the conventions of the time, very fluid and dynamic. The night location shots of Paris capture brilliantly the mood of a criminal underworld and is largely responsible for the film’s atmosphere (although the film’s music contributes a great deal as well). Watching this film, one sees how tantalisingly close French cinema was to the New Wave, and one suspects that films such as this one had a great deal of influence in shaping that revolutionary development. © James Travers 2001 Write a review for this film... |
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