 This is the opening shot of Le Samurai, Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 masterpiece. The most significant aspect about this shot is how unremarkable it is. Nothing more than our protagonist smoking in a dimly lit room accompanied by none other than his one true companion, a caged bird. This unremarkable opening scene serves as a great introduction to our protagonist, Jeff Costello, someone who has had all the humanity stripped away from him. His life has no purpose, nothing brings him joy. It's probably worth pointing out, this is all illustrated to us visually thanks in large part to the great performance by actor Alain Dilan. The one thing that he does well, which is murder people, gives him no satisfaction, he simply does it because that's all that he can do. Despite him not finding joy in murder, he still takes pride in it. He does his job well and takes remarkable care to do it right. This is where the film's title comes from, Le Samurai is of course the French translation of The Samurai, Jeff is someone who is careful, precise, and a warrior. But he was born out of time in a world full of immorality and corruption, one where common criminals rule the streets and a man of his talent struggles to succeed. Jean-Pierre Melville, the film's director, was heavily inspired by Japanese cinema of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s and looked to create a modern and chaotic world and explore what happens when a samurai enters it. In the words of Melville, all of my films hinge on the fantastic, I'm not a documentarian. A film is first and foremost a dream and it's absurd to copy life in an attempt to produce an exact recreation of it. Transportation is more or less a reflex with me. It's a film that is completely separated from reality. Melville stripped away a lot of the dialogue, backstories, characters, even color, so we could focus on the humanity of Jeff. It creates an interesting contrast that I'd like to explore further in today's video. Jeff is animalistic, survival is his one concern. He does whatever he needs to do to make it to the next day and nothing more. Le Samurai is enormously influential, Melville was heavily inspired by golden age Hollywood film noir, and would fittingly go on to have a big effect on a lot of modern thrillers and dark character studies. It had a very direct effect on Taxi Driver, and in many ways Travis Bickel is an Americanized reimagining of Jeff Costello. There are significant differences, Travis is someone who is unable to understand the world around him. He has a twisted self-perception, but that's not Jeff. He understands who he is, he is careful and knows what society frowns on. He has a very clear understanding of the world around him and he's shaped who he is because of the world that is seemingly devoid of humanity. He is a perfect fit for it. The best example of this happens in the chase sequence. Jeff is able to spot the police officers who are pursuing him and make his getaway. The film is set in and around Paris, but unlike many films set in Paris, it's not a glamorized or idealized version of the city at all, quite the opposite in fact. Most of the film is shot inside and when characters are outside, the film uses a lot of close-ups or is shot at night. To the film and to Jeff by extension, Paris is just another city, and the same problems that plague humanity exist there too. I mentioned earlier that the bird is his one true companion. I'd like to look further into this because I think the imagery of a bird trapped in a cage is a great visual comparison to Jeff because they are in many ways opposites but also very similar. The bird wants to get out and to be free but is forced to stay inside. Jeff hates the outside world and chooses to stay inside. Regardless of why, they're both in the same position and work together in whatever way they can. Jeff supports the bird who in turn tips him off that something is wrong. Jane, much like Jeff, has a very good understanding of the dark world around her. She is a prostitute, someone who takes full advantage of the sick world around her. She in many ways sees herself in Jeff and he sees himself in her. They both have the need to survive and do their best to help one another out. She is willing to be as alibi and risks her own well-being for him. She feels loyalty towards him and doing her part in protecting him gives her life a purpose. Jeff understands this and feels the same compassion for Jane. Her loyalty to him means his loyalty to her. Despite his careful behavior to avoid being caught, the police eventually catch up with him, and if he were to get caught they would go after Jane for lying to protect him, so after promising her he will make it right, he goes back to the club to attempt to assassinate the singer. Only he doesn't, the gun was unloaded the entire time. He makes it right by changing the blame from Jane to the singer. In the end he dies with his life finding a purpose. He was able to protect Jane, and at least to her, die a hero. Hey everyone, I hope you enjoyed. The Samurai is one of my favorite movies of all time. It's remarkable how influential this movie is. Much like Die Hard, a lot of this movie feels so cliched by today's standards because so many other films have borrowed sequences and scenes from it. It came out at the perfect time, somewhere between the Film Noir era and before the modern thriller, and has definitely made its presence felt. If you haven't seen it by all means you should check it out, and if you have be sure to drop a comment and tell me your thoughts. If you're new here make sure you hit that subscribe button, I have a new video going up every Saturday. I also put a link to my last video on Phantom Threads, so check that out if you're interested and I will see you next week. Thanks for watching.