DOULOS, LE (1962)

From Jean-Pierre Melville, the legendary director of Bob Le Flambeur, Le Deuxième Souffle, Le Cercle Rouge and Un Flic, comes this highly influential film noir classic.

The backstabbing criminals in the shadowy underworld of Le Doulos have only one guiding principle: “Lie or die.” A stone-faced Jean-Paul Belmondo (Classe Tous Risques) stars as enigmatic gangster Silien, who may or may not be responsible for squealing on Faugel (Serge Reggiani, Army of Shadows), just released from the slammer and already involved in what should have been a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisty, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust? Shot and edited with Melville’s trademark cool and featuring masterfully stylized dialogue and performances, Le Doulos (slang for an informant) is one of the filmmaker’s most gripping crime films. Co-starring Jean Desailly (Un Flic) and Michel Piccoli (Max and the Junkmen), written by Melville, from the best-selling novel by Pierre Lesou (The Cop) and beautifully shot in glorious black-and-white by Nicolas Hayer (Le Corbeau).