Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean-Paul Belmondo collaborate on Le Doulos, their second film, this time into the gangster underworld – now available in 4K.
The Production: 4.5/5
Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le doulos stars Jean-Paul Belmondo, Serge Reggiani, Jean Desally, and Michel Piccoli. The title refers to underworld slang of the police informant, or “The Finger Man” as the English language title was. The criminal underworld is full of the usual characters seen in film noir. Reggiani is Faugel, a newly released convict already working in a new heist. Belmondo plays Silien, who has few scruples about killing or squealing. Who can trust whom Not to take down the quality of Melville’s earlier films, but Le doulos has all the trademarks of his next few films that are by far his most popular works (Le samourai, Army of Shadows, and Le cercle rouge). Even though Belmondo’s character isn’t really as prominent until the second half, I’m reminded of American noirs like Kiss of Death that manage to make a supporting character the most memorable. While Silien isn’t quite as sadistic as Richard Widmark’s Johnny Udo, there’s a cooler sociopathy going on with him. Compared to the glossier Bob le flambeur, Le doulos has a harder edge to it.
The world building Melville creates doesn’t necessarily show somewhere the viewer may want to live, but it feels reel. There’s moments that are more studio-bound like obvious rear projection, but something about the artificialness works. After all, it’s not like the best American noirs were free of it. Especially with the excellent restoration, I love how so much subtlety is felt from faces. Whether it’s fear or assuredness. I haven’t seen the final Belmondo/Melville collaboration just yet (Magnet of Doom), but it’s hard to not enjoy seeing him a trenchcoat and carrying a gun.
Video: 4.5/5
3D Rating: NA
Kino Lorber previously released Melville’s Le doulos on Blu-ray in 2019 from the same 4K restoration by StudioCanal and Hiventy, except now in its native 4K resolution. Like the Blu-ray, the image is framed in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1 and presented in SDR. Much like Bob le flambeur and Last Year at Marienbad, the existing 4K-restored Blu-rays looked great, but I kept staring at the image taking in all the extra detail. The film grain is a bit more heightened on this than Alphaville and Bob le flambeur (likely due to being 1.37:1 rather than 1.66:1). Image is 99% pristine, with maybe just a few stray specks. Contrast is gorgeous, especially with all the shadows in night scenes. I noticed occasional shots that seemed to be from worse quality elements, but they’re still as stable and clean as surrounding footage. The level of fine detail is quite impressive – I could see eyelashes in sharp detail, textures on coats and hats looked like I could touch them myself. Compression is again generous, with the bitrate staying above the mid-60s and peaking in the mid-80s. If you’re a Melville fan or this is one of your favorite films, it’s a must-have upgrade if you’re 4K-capable.
Audio: 4.5/5
The original French monaural soundtrack is presented via a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. Clean, but the sound is occasional boxy for dialogue. This could just be a limitation of the source, but peaks like gunshots and broken glass don’t seem to overload. Just a nice mono track overall.
Optional English subtitles are provided.
Special Features: 4/5
Both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray include an audio commentary by film historian Samm Deighan. Deighan’s commentary is quite conversational, often like a good podcast episode on a film. She’s provided many commentaries for Kino Lorber lately, so I’ll have to check out more now.
The Blu-ray is identical to the same disc released by Kino Lorber in 2019 and features the following additional extras:
The Demon Within Him: Interview with Assistant Director Volker Schlondorff (29:34 HD) – This is a fun interview, as Schlondorff reflects on his time working with Melville. The Criterion DVD had an interview with him, but I don’t think it was as extensive as this (which was shot specially for Kino Lorber)
Birth of the Detective Story: Melville Style (32:46 HD)
Theatrical Trailer (2:25 SD)
Additional Trailers:
Leon Morin, Priest (3:16 SD)
Bob le flambeur (3:39 SD)
Touchez pas au grisbi (3:54 SD)
Razzia sur la chnouf (3:03 HD)
Alphaville (1:21 SD)
Overall: 4.5/5
Le Doulos is one of the essential Jean-Pierre Melville crime films gets quite an upgrade in resolution while carrying over the excellent supplements of Kino Lorber’s previous Blu-ray release.
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