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![]() Le Samourai By Devin D. O'Leary OCTOBER 6, 1997: In the cannibalistic world of modern film, people often forget the roots, influences and direct ancestors of what they see on screen. Remakes, homages and simple rip-offs happen so often that few viewers even realize what they are actually watching. I know people who are surprised to learn that The Seven Samurai and The Magnificent Seven are essentially the same movie. To really understand film, you must understand its history. Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 film Le Samourai has been listed as a primary influence by just about every modern crime film maker from Martin Scorsese to Quentin Tarantino to John Woo. Lucky for us, the Southwest Film Center will show a brand new print of the original uncut 35 millimeter version. This is a brilliant chance to see a film that few people probably know, but nearly all will recognize for what it has influenced.
Sound familiar? It should. John Woo's The Killer lifts huge chunks of plot and scenery and grafts them into modern-day Hong Kong. Quentin Tarantino's black suit and razor tie-wearing hoods in Reservoir Dogs certainly owe a wardrobe nod to Alain Delon. And Jean Reno's unemotional killer in The Professional? You can guarantee that film's director, Luc Besson, saw Le Samourai about a dozen times.
More than any other film of its genre, Le Samourai is concerned with creating an attitude. Plot and character are background noise. The idealized figures, their stylized appearance and their ritualized behavior are what marks Le Samourai so indelibly in the minds of its viewers. --Devin D. O'Leary
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