Bob Le Flambeur [VHS]

Bob Le Flambeur [VHS] Review

The inspirational pre-cursor to New Wave classics such as Godard's BREATHLESS, and Truffaut's SHOOT THE PIANO PLAYER, Jean-Pierre Melville's lighthearted noir, BOB LE FLAMBEUR, was co-written by French pulp author Auguste le Breton (Rififi). Bob Montagné--nicknamed "Le Flambeur" (high roller or compulsive gambler)--maintains his distinguished lifestyle at the roulette table, betting on the horses, and playing cards in the back rooms of Parisian nightclubs. When the losses begin to add up Bob decides to go for one last score: the safe at the Deauville casino. BOB LE FLAMBEUR inventively blends humanistic characterizations with gritty, high contrast cinematography creating a kind of new fifties realism nostalgic for the Hollywood gangster and noir films of the 30s and 40s only to culminate in an ironically twisted finale.