critics consensus

Le Samouraï makes the most of its spare aesthetic, using stylish -- and influential -- direction, solid performances, and thick atmosphere to weave an absorbing story. Read critic reviews

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The Godson Photos

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Movie Info

Hit man Jef Costello (Alain Delon) goes through an elaborate set of rituals before carrying out a hit on a nightclub owner. Always thorough and cool in his job, Costello is disconcerted to discover a witness to the killing, the club's female piano player. But before he can act, the police arrest him in a sweep of suspects. Released when the main witness does not come forward, Costello goes from being the hunter to the hunted, trailed by the determined police as well as his crime bosses.

Rating:

PG
Genre:

drama, crime
Original Language:

French (Canada)
Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville
Producer:

Raymond Borderie
Writer:

Joan McLeod, Jean-Pierre Melville, Roland Pellegrino, Yolande Maurette
Release Date (Streaming):

Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA):

$85.2K
Runtime:

1h 32m
Production Co:

Compagnie Industrielle et Commerciale Cinématographique, Fida Cinematografica
Sound Mix:

Mono

Cast & Crew

Alain Delon
Jef Costello

Nathalie Delon
Jane Lagrange

François Périer
The Superintendant

Cathy Rosier
Valérie, la pianiste (as Caty Rosier)

Jacques Leroy
Gunman

Jean-Pierre Posier
Olivier Rey

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Critic Reviews for The Godson

All Critics (31) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (31)

An austere poem of crime, Le Samourai manages to have a grip of an old-fashioned potboiler as well. Not a half-bad combination.

January 8, 2018 | Full Review…

Kenneth Turan
Washington Post
Cold, masterly, without pathos, and not even particularly sympathetic; it has the noble structure of accuracy.

January 14, 2013 | Full Review…

Penelope Gilliatt
New Yorker
Melville's film had a major influence in Hollywood.

June 24, 2006 | Full Review…

Derek Adams
Time Out
Achieves an atmosphere of mesmerizing, otherworldly beauty and grace.

October 24, 2005 | Rating: 4/4 | Full Review…

Nick Schager
Slant Magazine
[Melville's] style remains haunting and elegantly spare, just right for the kind of hit man who lives in silence, in bare and colorless surroundings, with a lonely caged bird.

May 20, 2003 | Rating: 4.5/5

Janet Maslin
New York Times
Melville is much more interested in procedures than action. The film is so stripped down that we learn as much as we need to know about Jef in the film's first 15 minutes.

January 1, 2000

Jeff Millar
Houston Chronicle
Subtlety is a strong point, but the many ambiguities lead to a steady diminishing of entertainment value.

August 27, 2020 | Rating: 7/10 | Full Review…

Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
Minimal and breathtaking, Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Samourai features an icy and smoldering lead performance from one of the most beautiful human beings to ever grace the big screen: Alain Delon.

November 2, 2018 | Full Review…

Ed Travis
Cinapse
Working with and against genre conventions, Melville's movies are hushed, deadpan abstractions of space and gesture, restrained, refined, a palette reduced to essential colors and compositions.

October 25, 2017 | Rating: 10/10 | Full Review…

Ray Pride
Newcity
Alain Delon is the coolest killer hit the screen, a film noir loner for the modern era, in Jean-Pierre Melville's austere 1967 French crime classic.

August 26, 2017 | Full Review…

Sean Axmaker
Stream on Demand
Melville's discipline in establishing patterns pays off handsomely when he breaks them. [Full review in Portuguese.]

November 24, 2016 | Rating: 5/5 | Full Review…

Pablo Villaça
Cinema em Cena
an enjoyably stylish entry in the French crime film tradition, but a decidedly minor one

August 17, 2010 | Rating: 3/4 | Full Review…

Jay Antani
Cinema Writer