“JEAN PIERRE MELVILLE'S BRUTAL AND SUBTLY BRILLIANT POLICIER... underscores why the French put the name to film noir.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times Click here to read review

“IF YOU DO ONLY ONE THING THIS WEEK, [SEE LE DOULOS]!
If you dug the re-release of his Army of Shadows last year,
it's time to catch up with this essential title from Melville's filmography.”
– Time Out New York

“A master class in the art of the double-cross—
and MAY BE THE FILM-GEEK EVENT OF THE SEASON!”
– Nick Catucci, New York magazine

“For fans of classic hard-boiled crime cinema, nothing all summer will compete with the crystalline new black-and-white print of Le Doulos, the great Jean-Pierre Melville's most influential film… A masterful blend of economy and style.”
– Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com Click here to read review

“ARGUABLY MELVILLE'S BEST FILM... So stylized that it's nearly a fetish vehicle for staccato dialogue, trench coats, and fedoras.”
– Lisa Rosman, Flavorpill

“A gripping and effective mood piece from one of the greats.”
– Bilge Ebiri, New York magazine

(1962) “One must choose: die... or lie?” The only sound the rapping of his shoes on the concrete pavement as the camera tracks ahead of him down an endless underpass during the opening titles, trench-coated Serge Reggiani (Casque d’Or, Army of Shadows) is back from the slammer — but what to do now, even as Monique Hennessy puts him up and old pal René Lefevre offers to stake him. First things first: there’s a debt to be paid and a piece-of-cake heist to be pulled for operating capital — but why are those darn flics here already? Could there be a squealer? That’s the meaning of doulos in French underworld argot (one who wears a doul — a hat — or stool pigeon). And A-list gangster Jean-Paul Belmondo (magnetic in the second of three straight Melville roles) is a prime candidate for the title — even by the cops, with toothpick-chomping Inspector Jean Desailly (the adulterer of Truffaut’s Soft Skin) providing an eight-minute grilling done in a single, 360° panning take, shot in a room full of reflecting glass (take six, and one of the two shots Melville was most proud of in his entire oeuvre; the other was the opening of Army of Shadows). But then the head-snapping plot twists start coming, even as the bodies start dropping — plus homage to Psycho’s doom-laden drive in the rain and a stoically-telling cameo by Michel Piccoli — with the ironies and ambiguities mounting until the very last minute of the picture, and the question of Belmondo’s guilt up in the air until. . . (Belmondo supposedly didn’t know if he was or wasn’t until he saw the movie.) Based on a série noire pulp, Melville considered this his first true policier (calling his earlier noir Bob Le Flambeur “a comedy of manners!”), melding the themes of friendship, betrayal, and tragedy with a star-powered, suspenseful thriller, done in a subtly rendered, studiously unrealistic atmosphere: the phone booths, subway, bar, sash windows, and inspector’s office are repros of U.S. originals, all underlined by an echt 60s Paul Misraki jazz score. This new 35mm print captures the shadowy b&w of cinematographer Nicolas Hayer (Cocteau’s Orphée, Clouzot’s Le Corbeau) and features an all-new translation and subtitles by Lenny Borger. “This mix of Warner Brothers and Rossellini has a forceful, adolescent lyricism. The action is scored to cool vibraphone doodles, punctuated by the ceremonial display key totems (trenchcoats, cigarettes, revolvers) and interspersed with sudden spasms of violence. Melville was not just a father figure of the French New Wave, he was ascetic warrior priest.” – J. Hoberman, Village Voice.
A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE.

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“A COOL, CLASSY TREAT FOR SUMMER AUDIENCES!”
– Stephen Whitty, The Star-Ledger
Click here to read review

“The camera and the actors move in a silent conspiracy, revealing more about the true nature of a man far in advance of any line of dialogue. Le Doulos will be shown in a new 35-millimeter print, MAKING IT EVEN EASIER TO SWOON INTO ITS DARKNESS.”
– Manohla Dargis, The New York Times

“The second Jean-Paul Belmondo's Easter Island mug fills the screen, there's no doubt who owns Le Doulos... The Breathless star plays subzero cool with such panache that, in a perfect world, cinephiles would perpetually run their thumbs across their bottom lips and utter his name instead of Bogie's.”
– David Fear, Time Out New York
Click here to read review