Un Flic

This was director, Jean-Pierre Melville's final film, and what a way to go out. The title translates to, "A Cop", though I though it would be some self-conscious film about movies (I should have know better). It has one of those great Melvillian (or Melvillain?) openings involving a silent bank robbery on a rainy, foggy day in a sea side town. Alain Delon plays the effective, though borderline ruthless cop who stops at nothing to catch the crooks. Richard Crenna (oh, yeah) is the ringleader of the thieves. And Catherine Deneuve is the love interest, and you don't hear me arguing. The film also features a second spectacular robbery scene involving a train and a helicopter. It's shot in icy blue tones and directed with that kind of restrained flair that has influcenced such diverse directors as Quentin Tarantino, Jim Jarmusch, and John Woo. Though it may not be as great as his Le Samorai, it's still the epitome of cool, and absolutely no one makes these kind of crime-drama, gangster films like Melville.