Painstaking detail and near-real-time narrative pace characterize THE SECOND BREATH (WIND). This is another in Melville's series of caper films in which the viewer is shown the entire process of planning and executing the crime. But, like the director's other fine films, this one is also about the characters. Most of the detail is used to bring insight into these desperate men, especially the main protagonist. On several occasions, Melville has given us a nearly washed-up criminal as a main character and here we are given one of the hardest-boiled examples: Gustave "Gu" Minda (Lino Ventura). At the film's outset, Gu escapes from prison and turns violently on one of his fellow escapees. This sets the tone for the entire narrative of distrust and double-crossing. Gu is interesting to us, but not truly sympathetic. Desperate for his 'second wind', Gu plans to accumulate enough money to leave France, preferably with his mistress, and avoid re-capture. When a fellow crime-boss offers him a part in his latest robbery caper, Gu takes him up. The film alternates between Gu and Commissaire Blot (Paul Meurisse) the police chief who is as committed to capturing Gu as Gu is to escaping. We need not be too concerned with the final outcome: it's pretty clear what it will be. Gu is ultimately a pathetic man, a sort of 'tragic criminal' whose fall from power leaves him disillusioned and worthless. This is one of Melville's more violent tales. To achieve his ends, Gu does not shy away from cold-blooded murder in more than one scene. A latter-day Film Noir in which fate plays a major role, it's not Melville's best film, but it deserves to be seen by anyone interested in this director.
Review of Second Wind
