Bob le flambeur (1956)'s comments

Do you want to let us know what you think? Just login, after which you will be redirected back here and you can leave your comments.

lachyas

The comment about there being spoiler

should definitely be spoiler tagged or removed, it pretty much gives away the ending of a really enjoyable film.

10 years 2 months ago

Melville tries so hard to emulate the classic American film noirs of the 40s and 50s that he was obsessed with that he almost derails this smart little heist film by piling every stylistic trick he can think of, and quite a lot he didn't, into every frame. It does work though after a fairly uninvolving opening half, dominated by clumsy editing and some weak performances (especially under-age Isabelle Corey, who looks great naked but can't act at all), it's saved by an increasingly gripping second half lead by the charismatic leading performance by Roger Duchesne as the heist is planned and the net closes in. The end section is excellently shot and pleasingly different. Worth taking the gamble.

12 years ago

Dieguito

Very good noir! Definitely an inspiration for all Oceans casino robbing movies

11 years 10 months ago

CaptYamato

Amazing movie. Loved every second of it.

12 years 11 months ago

thirdman

This movie is like jazz.
Perfect, sexy and surprising.

13 years 5 months ago

Siskoid

Melville's first crime/heist film, Bob le Flambeur, is admittedly rough in spots (technically), but ultimately rewarding. Taking its time to set up the all-nighter world of Montmartre in Paris, of Bob "the Gambler", reformed after a stint in jail for bank robbery, and his friends and foes. After a bad night of gambling, Bob finds himself looking to score quick money and plans a heist. And it's a heist that has everything for it to fail! If the characters don't know it, the audience certainly does, and so there's a certain inevitability that sets in, which is a mirror of Bob's gambling addiction. We follow the ups and downs, the self-destructiveness, the recklessness in spite of believing one has "a system", and even a cavalier attitude in the face of defeat. The gambler's psychology applied to the heist picture. "Flambeur" is patois that evokes "burning" something, and let it all burn on the off chance it'll work out. Shades of Melville's future crime procedurals, but the focus is less on the mechanics of the crime (though still present) and more on the human element that will always get you in trouble.

3 years ago