2024 Blind Spot Series: Le Samouraï

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Official Synopsis: After professional hitman Jef Costello (Alain Delon) is seen by witnesses, his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

Oh boy did I fall off the edge of a cliff with my Blind Spots this year. I travel for work fairly frequently, but 2024 I think I was on a plane at least once every month. Because of that, I ended up watching more TV series this year and my Blind Spots took a hit because of it.  So next year, I'm going to try to get back into the monthly swing of things, but I'm not going to set a formal goal, because then I'll stress out about it. Just know that I'm still over here trying to watch old movies.

Le Samouraï was a film I'm fairly sure I had as an official alternate years ago. It's one of those films that I hear a lot of current directors I love reference, so when I was on my last flight and I saw this on Delta Studios, I decided it was time for a watch.

I didn't fall in love with it as many had, but I think it's a solidly made film, I can see why directors like Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola would be drawn to it. Costello is a very stylish dude. Even though he bungles this job. He's easy to watch and get behind, and I could see a young man maybe wanting to emulate that. (Not the killing, but the way he carries himself) I don't like to gender movies but this one *felt* like a guy's movie, and maybe that's why I didn't connect to it as much.

I have to say, there was entirely too much bird chirping. Maybe it was exacerbated because I was wearing headphones and on a plane, but holy shit I swear I went to bed that night hearing that bird. In fact, I can still hear it now.

Grade: C+ 

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Comments

  1. thevoid99December 26, 2024 at 3:20 PM

    Melville is not an easy director to get into but he is the filmmaker that is known for creating the modern-day crime and heist film. You can definitely see his influence in the films of Michael Mann as Melville is an all-time favorite of mine as I like this film a lot but I think Army of Shadows and Le Cercle Rouge are his best films.

    I feel bad that you have to travel constantly as I don't think I can deal with that. I'm nearly half-way done with my final Blind Spot pick in Berlin Alexanderplatz as I have five one-hour episodes plus a 2 hour epilogue to watch in a film with a running time of 15 hours. I'm not doing that again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 26, 2024 at 3:23 PM

      I do genuinely like traveling for work, but it does get in the way with my blogging as I never bring along my personal lap top when I already have my work one. Too heavy lol. I still can't believe you're tackling that film. It's SO LONG.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousDecember 26, 2024 at 11:13 PM

    I think I'm in the same place with this as you. It was cool, stylish and Alain Delon oozes charisma but I wasn't blown away by the overall movie. Perhaps with the picture being so influential pieces of it that were revolutionary in 1967 are much less so now because of being aped in many other films.

    Glad you're going to keep doing the Blind Spots even if it will be erratic.

    Happy Holidays!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 27, 2024 at 11:36 AM

      I'll try my best! lol. Happy Holidays!

      Delete
    2. joel65913December 28, 2024 at 9:23 AM

      Hi Brittani, That was my comment above, didn't realize I wasn't logged in....oops!

      Delete
    3. Brittani BurnhamDecember 30, 2024 at 11:23 AM

      I had a feeling it was you! Blogger is so weird about logging in to comment. I cant even do it on certain browsers anymore. Should've used Wordpress lol

      Delete

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