Le Samouraï (1967)

Le Samouraï (The Samourai) is Jean-Pierre Melville’s spare, cool 1967 crime drama about Jef Costello, a lone, methodical contract killer whose life is governed by ritual and precision. After assassinating a nightclub owner, Jef is seen by witnesses; his carefully constructed alibis begin to unravel, and he finds himself the focus of police suspicion and the target of the criminals who hired — and then betray — him. As he quietly searches for the identity of the client who set him up, Jef must elude secret surveillance, hostile gangsters and the creeping collapse of the life he has so meticulously arranged. Watching the film you’ll experience a minimalist, slow-burning noir: muted dialogue, exacting compositions, and an atmosphere of urban isolation and fatalism. Alain Delon’s icy, restrained performance anchors the movie, while Melville’s fusion of American gangster tropes and samurai stoicism gives the story its moral clarity and melancholy. The result is a tense, elegiac thriller that emphasizes routine, silence and inevitability over spectacle — a stylish, meditative crime masterpiece that stays with you long after the final shot.

Actors: Alain Delon, François Périer, Nathalie Delon

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Runtime: 105 min

Genres: Crime, Drama

7.6 /10 90 /100 8.0 /10 8.2 /10