Trivia


Agreed, Un Flic is not Melville's best, although the opening bank heist was pure cinema. That sequence is arguably as good as any set piece he ever did. That said, know even a sub-par Melville is still better than 90 percent of the dreck out there, especially lately. Folks are still doing remakes of his stuff. "Le Cercle Rouge" is being filmed in Asia, with Orlando Bloom as Corey. Woo's "The Killer" and Jarmusch's "Ghost Dog" were both hommages to "Le Samouraï." The French have already remade "Le Deuxième Souffle," not to mention Jordan's "The Good Thief," a weak remake of "Bob Le Flambeur." "Hard Eight" by Anderson was heavily influenced by Melville, especially Le Cercle Rouge. Check out Hard Eight's opening diner scene for parallels. Anderson admitted it, jokingly said he should probably send a check to the Melville estate.

Here's a funny piece of minutiae for Melville fans. In Un Flic, when Commissaire Coleman (Delon) stops and looks at the phone numbers on the dead hooker's wall, try freezing the frame. You'll find names and phone numbers of the following gents: Gustave Minda (Le Deuxième Souffle), Robert Montagne (Bob le Flambeur), and Jef Costello (Le Samouraï).

Melville's little inside joke and nod to himself. What did you expect? On his desk at Tilly, where he wrote his marvelous scenarios during the wee hours, there was a small plaque which reminded him, "It's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am." Hard to argue that point. I believe the original quote is from Muhammad Ali, née Cassius Clay.

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With "Leon Morin, Priest" now available on Criterion, I'm wondering if Un Flic will be the next Melville fim to get a Criterion Collection release?

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You can also see "Siffredi" on the wall - this is for Roch Siffredi, Delon s character in the gangster movie "Borsalino" (1970).

Un Flic is a good movie but it doesnt quite get to the level of Le Cercle Rouge / Samourai etc... The train heist is not well integrated with the rest of the film, and the identification and arrest of the three accomplices at the end feels rushed and random. Still I really like the vibe of the film and the general gray/rainy/steely atmosphere.

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I agree. Not Melville's best but the robbery scene was great.

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