Bob le Flambeur
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Year Released: 1955
Rating: 3.0
Inspirational heist film about aging gambler whose addiction has led to a (mostly) empty life of small wins and losses (including jail time); when he plans to rob a casino, it's an act of desperation. No doubt one of Melville's best films, it acts as the template for a good number of the films he'd make later, with world-weary men robbing banks and almost daring the authorities to catch them (a lot of them do get caught). Its misogyny is more than apparent, however, as women are either pimped out, smacked or the reincarnation of Lady Macbeth; even Bob's calm demeanor gets tested when a young girl he trusted turns malicious and he hits her in the face. It's not a world I'd want to live in - and not glossed over or fashionable as The Good Thief - but irresistible to watch.
