Jean-Paul Belmondo had become an overnight star of France’s “Nouvelle Vague” in Godard's ‘Breathless’ and he teams here with veteran Charles Vanel (‘Wages Of Fear’, ‘Diabolique’) to essay the part of a boxer who signs on as a bodyguard to a shady businessman. Vanel is crooked financier who defrauds the Ferchaux family of a copious amount of money and takes flight to New York. Their voyage creates a bond between them and shortly there is a sort of father-and son relationship that is built up between them. But soon there is a shift in power as the young man discovers the world around him with all of its possibilities. Belmondo and Vanel embark on a trip to the United States connected only by greed but wind up being trapped by their own flaws. Director Jean-Pierre Melville tackles this relationship amid the setting of the United States, working for the first time in color. It’s an early exercise in his ‘minimalist’ film noir style which was heavily influenced by American gangster films. His guerilla method of shooting from an open car gives the film a documentary feel with the endless highways, cheesy motels and slick diners exhibiting a view of America that was not the usual vision expected by French audiences. DVD EXTRA World News - (1958) - Seeing is believing they say, but here are a few newsreels that could certainly disprove that. They’re recreated news events with a comic twist in the very overstated French manner.
S**E
QUICK SHIP! VERY interesting movie, especially when it ...
QUICK SHIP! VERY interesting movie, especially when it travels to USA for a road trip.
C**W
INTERESTING, BUT NOT GREAT
Being a Melville and Belmondo fan, but having never seen this in its original release, I was curious. It turned out to be not the usual underworld action film that one expects from this director or its star. It is quite talky and the premise is an excuse for a buddy flik.Briefly, a shady financier (Charles Vanel) flees France with a newly hired ex-boxer as bodyguard (Belmondo). They pick up a pile of loot in N.Y. and flee to the American south. Along the way, they pick up a hitch-hiker (a dubbed in English Stefania Sandrelli), who tries to make off with the loot. After they dump her, they end up in the New Orleans area. A father-son relationship develops. Belmondo eventually leaves taking the money, but decides to return with the it (thus explaining the "honorable" part of its American title). The film offers a rather bleak picture of the U.S. and with the slow pace, it just might try a few viewers' patience.Michele Mercier, she of the Angelique 60's film series, makes a cameo appearance as a hooker who has an affair with Belmondo. The widescreen film (2:35:1 aspect ratio) is offered in a color saturated and sharp print. It is Letterboxed and not Anamorphic, for those of you who are interested. I would recommend it only to diehard fans of Belmondo and director Melville. I have to add that the Video Dimensions price is not bad for what it offers.
J**L
Five Stars
Beautiful love story of two men told in an odd and unique way.
S**E
Movie is fine. DVD is awful.
The movie is fine. Melville was a master, set even his worst is still worth watching.But this DVD is terrible. It’s a bad scan, bad transfer, and poorly done menu system.I hope Criterion eventually picks this up so I can judge the movie without being infuriated by the horrible presentation.
A**R
Important film, poor quality video.
Important film, poor quality video.
H**.
Good dealer. Poor video.
Great, professional service. But the video quality is way below an average DVD, which makes me wonder where it is sourced from.
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