The undisputed star director of French noir is Jean-Pierre Melville. The writer and director helmed some of cinema's coolest and most thrilling films that blended the best of Hollywood noir tropes with the boundary-pushing elements of the French New Wave. His best films include 1967's Le Samourai, as well as Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge. He died while eating dinner, aged 55 in 1973, struck down in the prime of his career. Before he passed away, though, he managed to produce one final noir film that was intensely gripping and, once more, redefined the genre.
Un Flicwas released in October of 1972 and stars regular Melville collaborator, and recently sadly departed actor, Alain Delon, alongside Catherine Deneuve and Richard Crenna. The film tells the story of a group of thieves who have just robbed a bank and the police commissioner who fears he has been double-crossed. The plot is similar to many of Melville's best noir films, but his stylistic, idiosyncratic filmmaking is as intoxicating as ever. Known as A Cop or Dirty Money in English, Melville departed from this world too soon but gave us one final, exhilarating film to chew on before he did.
Everyone Gets Their Hands Dirty in 'Un Flic'
Un Flic opens with a bank robbery led by Simon (Crenna) and his three accomplices, but one of them is shot and put into a clinic under a fake name. The commissaire Edouard Coleman (Delon) frequents the nightclub owned by Simon and meets Simon's girlfriend, Cathy (Deneuve), with whom he begins an extramarital affair. As Edouard is assigned to uncover the identity of Simon's gang member in the clinic, Simon has him killed. Thus begins a cat-and-mouse thriller with Edouard flirting with danger and incriminating himself as his tryst with Cathy intensifies, all while circling in on Simon and his gang. The film, even though just 100 minutes in running time, allows for many sudden plot twists and full characterization, something not always accomplished in noir films.
'Un Flic's Gritty Atmosphere is Synonymous With Melville's Style
Other films in Melville's oeuvre have been more successful with audiences and oftentimes more critically acclaimed. But don't let the fact that Un Flic is further down Melville's filmography deter one from watching it. The film begins in medias res at the bank robbery, leaving the audience to catch up to the plot. This creates an already tense atmosphere in the film, as the viewer grapples with what must have happened before what is happening on-screen. This atmosphere is a hallmark of Melville's approach to genre, transplanting Hollywood noir tropes into the French New Wave. The film exudes the moody minimalism and existential cool that litters his whole body of work.
The 2021 thriller delivers a gripping spectacle relentless in its tension and violence.
The icy tone of the film is helped by the astonishing cast it has, led by two of France's greatest actors in Delon and Deneuve. The shadowy trench coats, the figures hanging out of car windows, and the pervasive sense of fatalism are signature noir with a French stylistic rhythm blended throughout. Un Flic once again shows why Melville is such a "director's director," whose devotees include Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, and John Woo, who called the French director "a god." Melville passed away at the height of his powers, with his last film being another hit in Un Flic. Melville's filmography is the best of French noir and can rival anything produced by Hollywood.
Un Flic is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
Image via Euro International Films
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