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.