Definitely my favorite director at the moment. Le Samourai, Le Cercle rouge, Army of Shadows, and Bob le flambeur are all 5 star classics.

Hey guys, don't all respond to my thread at once, k?

le samouri is really good i watched that in my film class.. i'm not sure if i've seen the other two and i just canceled netflix, so discussion ends there i suppose

I loved le Samourai. This was the first time that I had ever seen Alain Delon. It's just stunning how good-looking he was. Maybe it's partially the way that he looks, maybe it's the focus on every detail of what he's doing, but you can't take your eyes off of him. It seemed like the movie was over in an instant.

None of the other films capture the intensity of le Samourai, at least for me. Although Bob le Flambeur is a lot more fun.

I'm getting Army of Shadows tomorrow from Netflix.

I can't stand Le Samourai. I might watch Army of Shadows anyway, though.

Army of Shadows was great.

Yes, Army of Shadows is definetly a great film explaining quite well this period of time which was indeed very strange for France.
The acting is flawless (but i'm biased as I'm a big fan of Lino Ventura, the main character in the movie).
If you can find them, I recommend other films with Lino :
Espion lève-toi (from director Yves Boisset, I dont know the english title) which is a cold war spy movie (almost film noiresque with a man trapped by his destiny)
and Cadavres exquis, an italian movie depicting the "lead years" in the Italian '70s.
Those are two great films, quite political and really typical of the european political cinema from the 70's.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely check them out. I really want to check out the commentary track for Army of Shadows. I put it on a few times and the scene descriptions and analyzations were really interesting, such as Melville's use of hats. The only thing is it might be difficult to sit through 2 and a half hours of commentary.

I'm thinking about getting Le Samourai, Le Cercle Rouge, or Bob Le Flambeur next.

You really think it does a good job of capturing the reality of the period? I would say it's 99% mythmaking.

Word, great director. Le Circle Rouge, Le Samourai, Army of Shadows are all French cinema classics.

How is it mythmaking ? I think it depicts the reality of this period quite well, it tells the story of men who defended their country against the nazis but it doesn't imply that all french people were in fact resistants (as the De Gaulle Myth actually tried it)

It really does imply that, I think. How many French characters, major or minor, were collaborators? The cops in the beginning. Everyone else is secretly right behind the Resistance.

I didnt remember this way but it's 3 years i have seen this movie. I'll try to watch it as soon as i can and continue this discussion if i continue to feel the same way.

i love this guy
army of shadows, le cercle rouge, and le samourai are some of my fav movies. still have to watch a bunch more.

Army of Shadows was awesome, need to see the others.