Classe Tous Risques (1960) - Directed by Claude Sautet

In Claude Sautet’s Classe Tous Risque, we are given a portrait of a gangster that is uncommon in French cinema: that of the fully-developed character. Lino Ventura plays Abel Gavos, a lifetime crook, connected to an extensive network of fellow gangsters. He is the father of two boys and has a wife named Therese. Hiding out in Italy, Abel and his family realize they must get back to France to avoid capture. When they return, they are ambushed and Therese is killed. Abel must pick up the pieces and care for his two sons by himself, trekking across the country while trying to avoid arrest and ultimately ending up in Paris for a showdown with his old friends.

Lino Ventura’s hardened criminal and caring, devoted father is such a living and breathing person. He has several beautiful scenes with his two boys. One scene that works really well is when he gives instructions to his eldest son while they are sitting in a church, basically telling the boy that he must carry on and take care of things if he is captured. So much of Abel’s heart is poured into this scene that we forget about the bad things he has done in his life and we just want him to be able to get to safety and take care of his family. We are sympathetic with his plight, whether he deserves it or not. This is rare to find this depth of character in neo-noir or post-noir films, especially when compared to those by Jean-Pierre Melville. I reviewed at length two films by Melville, Le Doulos (1962) and Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966). Where Melville’s films are all calculated, perfected detachment, Classe Tous Risque is realistic, more improvisational and lifelike. Melville’s films are peripherally emotive, coming at you through the cumulative effect of ennui and the occasional burst of violence. Classe Tous Risque is directly emotional, pulling at our feelings for this father as he lugs his kids around. We know he is a devoted father because we see the way he is gentle, playful and kind with them. Furthermore, Sautet's frame is not as formalized or composed as Melville's. This is a more natural and realistically shot picture and doesn't feel like there is a strict sense of mise-en-scene. It's not that I prefer this film to Melville's, but it's nice to mix it up once in a while.

In another key scene, once Abel comes back to Paris, he meets up with all his old gang at a hangout. One by one, we realize that no one will help out Abel and his family. Everyone has an excuse and nobody will risk any more than they have to for their old friend. It’s a slow-burn scene of betrayal as cold as any in cinema history, marked by an incredibly pent-up display of anger by Lino Ventura as Abel. In fact, I would highlight this moment as the best scene in the film and the one that sums up Abel’s plight. We sense his frustration both as he realizes how few friends he has, but also his fear for the welfare of his family. He is terrified of his unsure future and has become cornered where he has few options left.

Seeing Lino Ventura opposite Jean-Paul Belmondo (as Eric Stark, the gangster chauffeur), is another huge reason for why this film succeeds. These are two towering French stars of the 60’s and they couldn’t be more different in their styles, with Belmondo and his super-cool, playing off Ventura’s bulldozer facade. Their interaction here is brilliant stuff and the script gives them ample opportunity to spend time together. I’m not sure how Sautet pulled off the coup of getting these two stars in this film together (although it was relatively early in their careers), but it was a fortuitous choice and really makes this film pop. Sautet did not go on to have the illustrious career like many other French directors of the time, but he sure left his mark with this one, giving us a unique look into the life of a gangster.  

Melville Double Feature (Pt. 2) - Le Deuxieme Souffle (1966) - Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville



In my previous post I talked about the early career and style of Jean-Pierre Melville in his film Le Doulos (1962). His 1966 feature Le Deuxieme Souffle is a great example of a filmmaker honing his craft and refining his themes. This is a natural progression. Melville here clearly changes his tone, compositions, and thematic elements to build upon the framework he set for himself with his earlier films like Le Doulos and Bob Le Flambeur (1956), all to an end that is at once more detached, yet filled with more feeling.

In this film, Lino Ventura plays Gu, an escaped convict who's hiding from the authorities while simultaneously planning his next heist. Inspector Blot (Paul Meurisse) plays the cat-and-mouse game to track Gu and arrest him. In plot, the scenarios play out in a way that we're fairly familiar with from all of the cop/gangster films that have come after it. It's the way that the film is put together, in the inimitable style of Melville that elevates the material.

In examining the evolution of Melville, we note the change in tone from his earlier films. No longer is there the sense of homage or playfullness. We don't have the Belmondos of the world bringing their own inherent trendiness. Instead there is a greater sense of existential dread. It's a much colder world. Stark. Death is more scary and omnipresent instead of a necessary means as before. In this change of tone, as a whole, the film seems to be more important and therefore filled with more pathos and feeling. Lino Ventura is the perfect actor choice and is partly responsible for this change of tone. A great article on his acting style and the screen presence he brought to Melville's later pictures is well worth a read. In Richard Porton's piece he writes, "Ventura's hardboiled gangsters were neither suave nor flamboyant. He specialized in burnt-out, doomed men". This is a perfect example of the way the actor adds to the tone of the film that the director is trying to pursue. Ventura went on the star in Melville's very cold, yet personal look at the French Resistance (of which Melville was a part of) in Army of Shadows (1969).

In his compositions, we notice that Melville is increasingly particular. Shots are artfully composed to a point where it becomes perfectionist. This is now a world where people are spaced just so and shots strung together creating a stark existence, one devoid of warm humanity. What a striking turn of events for Melville. In Le Doulos there was a kinetic sense of joy in the compositions. More of a warm homage to traditional film noir. Here we see death and gunfights play out more coldly and savagely. In this film's centerpiece we see a brilliantly staged armored-vehicle heist on some rocky cliffs, where we are treated to a basically wordless piece of filmmaking. Melville lets us watch as we see everything being set-up by the robbers and the entire act carried out with cold-blooded efficiency. It's a perfectly shot scene and emblematic of the way that Melville was creating this new type of haggard gangster film.  Faces are blank and world-weary. There's a point where we see Gu's girlfriend Manouche shed one small tear. It's a token really, but she's so empty and cold that it's a hopeless gesture in a moment of weariness. We're not even sure she's truly sad. Melville's next feature, Le Samourai takes the stark compositions and barren existence to a new level, albeit in color. It documents a lone hitman and his precise and exact world in which he lives. Jim Jarmusch's film Ghost Dog (1999) was a direct nod to Melville in Le Samourai.

Differences in thematic elements that are perhaps most apparent in Le Deuxieme Souffle from Le Doulos are the emphasis on the ethics of the gangster and the cop. Ratting out and cheating are at once dreadful and necessary depending on your place. Inspector Blot, as the chaser, does anything he can, even lying and using coercive tactics to get his man to talk. Gu fears that he has ratted-out his friends by mistake, which tears him apart. It's this extra emphasis on the morales and tactics that elevates the story from a mere homage to more epic proportions. Cheating and lying in Le Doulos are so prevalent that it's almost treated with a bit of humor. In Le Deuxieme Souffle, it's serious business. Apparently, even gangsters have feelings, cold as they may be. Melville went on to focus more on these ethical rules in Le Samourai, but they're clearly present here.

Melville would go on to make even more refinements to his craft in Le Samourai (1967), Army of Shadows (1969), and Le Cercle Rouge (1970), showing even more restaint and creating an ever-greater feeling of detachment and existential crises. His work is essential and worth viewing in succession in order to fully appreciate the director's craft.