Le deuxième souffle
France
1966
144 Min
Black and White
1.66:1
French
Synopsis
With his customary restraint and ruthless attention to detail, director Jean-Pierre Melville follows the parallel tracks of French underworld criminal Gu (the inimitable Lino Ventura), escaped from prison and roped into one last robbery, and the suave inspector, Blot (Paul Meurisse), relentlessly seeking him. The implosive Le deuxième souffle captures the pathos, loneliness, and excitement of a life in the shadows with methodical suspense and harrowing authenticity, and contains one of the most thrilling heist sequences Melville ever shot. —The Criterion Collection
Director
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach) was an amateur filmmaker as a teenager who, after the start of World War II, began making his own independent short and feature films. He hit his stride in the ‘50s with his memorable adaptation of Jean Cocteau’s novel, Les Enfants Terribles, and, over the next 20 years, specialized in intelligent and exciting crime films, most notably Bob le Flambeur, Le Doulos (aka The Finger Man), Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge, and Un Flic. Melville also acted in his own Deux Hommes Dans Manhattan, as well as Cocteau’s Orphee, Jean-Luc Godard’s À Bout de Souffle (aka Breathless), and Claude Chabrol’s Landru (aka Bluebeard). He died in 1973.
(From http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=2:102465 )
Wall
Displaying 4 of 5 wall posts.
James Devereaux
12May11
When Lino Ventura was asked what he wants from a director, he replied:" for them to understand me on a deep inner level".
Colin Landon
25Mar11
This is perhaps the film that would give birth to Melville's gangster genre style with Le Samourai and Red Circle following this. A lot of Melvilleisms in this film like focusing on Trenchcoats, fedoras and luggage. In this film also there's a great use of zooming and panning out, something of a legacy from the French new wave, you don't really see in films today.
Related Films
Fans
Displaying 5 of 199 fans.
Articles
Our roundup of essays and articles on this film.
Daily Briefing. Best of 2011 Blowout
By David Hudson on December 31, 2011
Moving Image Source’s “Moments of 2011,” Reverse Shot‘s top ten, the NYT’s awards season package and, of course, more.
Lists
Displaying 5 of 45 lists.
Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1
Untitled
By asuraf on November 28, 2008
Aging gangster Lino Ventura escapes from prison and lands a gig in an armored truck robbery in this quintessential policier from Jean-Pierre Melville, adapted from Jose Giovanni’s novel with a remarkable… read review
Forum
Displaying
0 discussion topics.