Melville depicts the dreamed universe of gangster and police.
Gangster follow a moral code - between them. Police is witty, and plays its cards to stop them. Violence is in the background and if there are murders, they are almost noble ones, like commissaire Blot describes it.
"Le deuxième souffle" uses the story of an escapee, previous public enemy n°1, and its epic adventures in the process of going away to show us this background and the characters belonging to it. The duration of the movie allows splendid character development and the dialogs are worthy of Audiard (way above Le samouraï in my opinion in that aspect).
With Melville care about style - of its characters with the mandatory trenchcoats and hats, and of the movie itself, we get a wonderful odyssey, showing his utopia of a world that fascinated him (and many others).
"Le deuxième souffle" uses the story of an escapee, previous public enemy n°1, and its epic adventures in the process of going away to show us this background and the characters belonging to it. The duration of the movie allows splendid character development and the dialogs are worthy of Audiard (way above Le samouraï in my opinion in that aspect).
With Melville care about style - of its characters with the mandatory trenchcoats and hats, and of the movie itself, we get a wonderful odyssey, showing his utopia of a world that fascinated him (and many others).