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Jean-Pierre Melville

Jean-Pierre Melville was one of the most important film-makers to emerge from post-war France. The son of Alsatian Jews, Melville was an active member of the French Resistance during the war, and also took part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of southern France in August 1944.

After the war, Melville found himself unable to access the French studio system directly, and so set up his own studio. His first feature, Le Silence De La Mer (The Silence of the Sea) (1949) was a very low-budget wartime drama, reflecting on the strained relations between an ordinary French family and a Francophile Nazi officer. The film was a critical and commercial success, and allowed Melville the freedom to continue making films through his own studios.

Melville's film-making style is particularly recognised for developing a "reportage" style of shooting (he was one of the first in French cinema to use real locations) as well as bringing American film noir sensibilities into French cinema, and is recognised today as being one of the key influences on the French New Wave movement.

Most of Melville's films (with the notable exception of the hugely influencial Les Enfants Terribles and a few others) are divided up between crime films and wartime occupation films. These two strains came to their conclusions with L'Armee Des Ombres (Army Of Shadows) (1969), a broad-canvas film charting one man's life in the French Resistance, and Le Cercle Rouge (The Red Circle) (1970), a heist movie. Both were enormously influencial, with such film-makers as Jim Jarmuch, Quentin Tarantino and John Woo siting them as key influences.

Melville died of a heart attack in 1973, aged 55.


What members say | Filmography

Jean-Pierre Melville - what members say


  • Le Cercle Rouge
  • Le Cercle Rouge review by from Cardiff, Wales
    Rated - 4 stars Fine piece of film noir 26 July 2004
    ...ot on their trail is the experienced detective Mattei (Bourvil). Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, this European crime flick wears its American influences on its sleeve. Buildin...  
  • Le Doulos
  • Le Doulos review by from Manchester
    Rated - 4 stars Hats off to Melville 22 June 2004
    ...If you see more than one of Jean-Pierre Melville's dour film-noirs, his world of poker-faced hard men in raincoats and little hats doing each other over seems positively fetishisti...  
  • Le Silence De La Mer
  • Le Silence De La Mer review by A customer from Carlisle, England
    Rated - 5 stars The solidarity of silence 25 December 2008
    ... Le Silence de la Mer (1949) is Jean-Pierre Melville's directorial debut and launched a magnificent career. Simply told, the film is about a German officer, Werner, who is billeted...  

Jean-Pierre Melville - filmography


  • Le Cercle Rouge on DVD (1970)
    Starring: Alain Delon,  Andre Bourvil,  Gian Maria Volonte
    Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Jean-Pierre Melville's hugely influential film remains a cornerstone of the crime genre. Recently released from prison, thief Corey (Alain Delon) finds himself caught up in a dangerous triangle with a mysterious woman (Gian Maria Volonte) and an ex-cop with some issues of his own (Yves Montand). ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 68% from 2,126 members
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  • Army Of Shadows on DVD (1969)
    Starring: Simone Signoret,  Lino Ventura,  Jean-Pierre Cassell
    Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    During a tragic period in humanity, Philippe Gerbier is an ordinary man who finds himself in the center of extraordinary events, alongside compatriots Mathilde, Luc Jardie, Francois, Le Masque and Felix, who are members of the Resistance. Among other notables like "Colonel Passy" -- one of DeGaulle'..read more »
    Rate this: 4 stars out of 5 76% from 1,470 member
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  • Le Samourai (1967)
    Starring: Alain Delon,  Francois Perier,  Nathalie Delon
    Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
    Certificate: Certificate: PG
    Hitman Jeff Costello is a perfectionist who always carefully plans his murders and who never gets caught. One night however, after killing a night-club owner, he's seen by witnesses. His efforts to provide himself with an alibi fail and more and more he gets driven into a corner.
    Rate this: 4 stars out of 5 79% from 294 members
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  • Le Doulos on DVD (1963)
    Starring: Jean-Paul Belmondo,  Serge Reggiani,  Jean Desailly
    Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    This complex down-beat thriller follows the fatalistic relationship between two men: Maurice Faugel, a crook just out of prison and Silien (Belmondo), who may or may not be a doulos or finger man (a kind of high-class informer). Maurice, wasting no time, immediately begins to put himself on the ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 70% from 1,185 member
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  • Breathless on DVD (1959)
    Starring: Jean Seberg,  Jean-Paul Belmondo,  Jean-Pierre Melville
    Director: Jean-Luc Godard
    Certificate: Certificate: 15
    Godard's first feature has been widely hailed as one of the most influential motion pictures ever made. On the run after killing a cop, a small-time crook (Belmondo) hides out in Paris with an American girl (Seberg). After she betrays him, he chooses to face his fate with an absurd stoicism ..read more »
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 66% from 6,697 members
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  • Bob Le Flambeur on DVD (1955)
    Starring: Isabelle Corey,  Roger Duchesne,  Daniel Cauchy
    Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
    Certificate: Certificate: 12
    In 'Bob Le Flambeur' Bob is a gambler whose luck seems to have run out. In desperation, and despite his friend's warning, he plans to rob a casino. When police are made aware of his plans, it could be that Bob's game is over.
    Rate this: 3.5 stars out of 5 71% from 812 members
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Jean-Pierre Melville facts

5 most recent films

Un Flic - 3.5 stars
Le Cercle Rouge - 3.5 stars
Army Of Shadows - 4.0 stars
Le Samourai - 4.0 stars
Le Doulos - 3.5 stars

5 highest-rated films

Le Samourai - 4.0 stars
Army Of Shadows - 4.0 stars
Le Silence De La Mer - 3.5 stars
Bob Le Flambeur - 3.5 stars
Le Doulos - 3.5 stars

5 lowest-rated films

Breathless - BLU-RAY Version - 4.5 stars
Les Enfants Terribles - 3.0 stars
Breathless - 3.5 stars
Le Cercle Rouge - 3.5 stars
Leon Morin, Pretre - 3.5 stars

Most frequent co-stars

Jean-Paul Belmondo - 4 times - show films
Alain Delon - 4 times - show films
Jean Seberg - 2 times - show films
Catherine Deneuve - 2 times - show films
Nicole Stephane - 2 times - show films

Most frequent directors

Jean-Luc Godard - 2 times - show films