From the Collection: Le Samouraï
Jean-Pierre Melville’s iconic crime film Le Samouraï recently got a 4k upgrade from the Criterion Collection.
In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him. An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean‑Pierre Melville, Le samouraï is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture —with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology.
Special Features include:
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- Interviews with Melville and actors Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon, and Cathy Rosier
- Interviews with Rui Nogueira, editor of Melville on Melville, and Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris
- Melville-Delon: D’honneur et de nuit (2011), a short documentary exploring the friendship between the director and the actor and their iconic collaboration on Le samouraï
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by film scholar David Thomson, an appreciation by filmmaker John Woo, and excerpts from Melville on Melville
- New cover by Polly Dedman
Le Samouraï is one of the coolest movies ever made. The plot is straightforward, yet it is filmmaking at the highest level, full of suspense, intrigue, and even a little humor. Melville builds a world and character so interesting that you want to see a dozen more movies about Jef Costello and his life before this movie. The film rests on the shoulders of Alain Delon, who gives a memorable and stirring performance as our suspected hitman. He’s methodical in everything, from boosting a car to knowing when to talk. Delon’s piercing blue eyes grab you and don’t let go. It’s a great performance from someone who understands their presence on screen.
The new 4k Blu-ray is superb. The crisp sound and picture give the Parisian setting more depth and clarity. The special features are loaded and I particularly liked the appreciation by director John Woo and the short documentary Melville-Delon: D’honneur et de nuit and the insight it gave to the relationship between Melville and Delon.
Le Samouraï is one of the greatest crime movies ever and would make a great double feature with David Fincher’s The Killer.
You can buy Le Samouraï at the Criterion Collection website or anywhere Criterion Collection DVDs are sold.
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From the Collection is an analysis piece of non-new-release movies, whether seen on DVD, streaming, or in a theater, and includes a brief history of the film, a review of the film, and content about the experience of seeing the film and/or the contents of the film’s DVD.
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