Le Deuxieme Souffle [Criterion Collection]

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville

Overview

In this crime thriller, veteran gangster Gustave escapes from prison to find his sister is being blackmailed by some petty thugs. He plans one last caper to steal enough money in hopes of retiring to a tropical paradise. However, he and his gang are sought by a detective.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/07/2008
UPC:	0715515032926
Original Release:	1966
Rating:	NR
Source:	CRITERION
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W, Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	2:24:00
Sales rank:	14,163

Special Features

New, restored high-definition digital transfer; Audio commentary featuring film scholar Ginette Vincendeau, author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris, and film critic Geoff Andrew of the british film institute; New video interview with director Bertrand Tavernier, who served as publicity agent on the film; Archival footage featuring interviews with Melville and actor Lino Ventura; Original theatrical trailer; New and improved English subtitle translation; Plus: a new essay by film critic Adrian Danks

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Lino Ventura	Gustave Minda
Paul Meurisse	Inspector Blot
Raymond Pellegrin	Paul Ricci
Christine Fabrega	Actor
Pierre Zimmer	Orloff
Marcel Bozzuffi	Ricci
Michel Constantin	Alban
Paul Frankeur	Fardiano
Mel Ferrer	Actor
Bernard G?rard	Composer

Technical Credits

Jean-Pierre Melville

Jos? Giovanni

Jean-Pierre Melville	Screenwriter
Jos? Giovanni	Screenwriter

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Le Deuxihme Souffle
1. Opening Credits [:58]
2. Escape [5:01]
3. Marseille, November 20, 11:00 P.M. [4:53]
4. Inspector Blot [5:31]
5. Marseille, November 22 [:35]
6. Paris, November 23, 12:25 A.M. [7:57]
7. Professionals [1:43]
8. The Hideout [3:03]
9. Jo and Paul Ricci [1:46]
10. Orloff [3:35]
11. Blot and Manouche [3:27]
12. A Romantic Dinner [4:20]
13. Blot Pays a Visit to Jo's Club [6:06]
14. Novermber 25... [8:34]
15. November 26... [1:34]
16. November 27... [5:06]
17. December 10... [2:40]
18. Orloff Propose a Substitute [3:40]
19. The Night of December 27-28 [2:05]
20. December 28... [4:44]
21. The Heist [13:11]
22. "This Place Belongs to My In-Laws" [4:12]
23. Blot Goes Ballistic [5:16]
24. Vanishing [5:00]
25. The Angel Nevada [6:00]
26. Interrogations [8:25]
27. Casing the Meeting Spot [3:56]
28. The Meeting [4:04]
29. A New Confession [7:22]
30. "Not Until I Clear My Name" [4:44]
31. "My Word Is Enough" [5:11]
32. "You Dropped Something" [3:53]
33. End Credits [1:15]
1. Color Bars [:20]
1. Introduction [:58]
2. A Film Gris [5:01]
3. Differences From the Novel [4:53]
4. Paul Meurisse and the Long Take [5:31]
5. Franco-American Hybrid [:35]
6. Lino Ventura [7:57]
7. Sympathy for An Assassin [1:43]
8. The Professional Ethos of Gangsters [3:03]
9. Bourgeois Gangsters [1:46]
10. Loyalty and Betrayal [3:35]
11. Abstraction [3:27]
12. Sexlessness [4:20]
13. The Police and the Underworld [6:06]
14. Gu Senses the Trap [8:34]
15. Jacques Becker [1:34]
16. Howard Hawks [5:06]
17. Ventura and Army of Shadows [2:40]
18. The Laws of the Genre [3:40]
19. A Parody of Domesticity [2:05]
20. Too American [4:44]
21. Cinema of Process [13:11]
22. Precision Filmmaking [4:12]
23. Gu's Tragic Mistake [5:16]
24. Economy of Direction [5:00]
25. Jean Negroni As George Raft [6:00]
26. The Ben Barka Affair [8:25]
27. Critical Battles [3:56]
28. A"Right-Wing Anarchist" [4:04]
29. Gu's Enemies [7:22]
30. Gu's Sartorial Evolution [4:44]
31. Melville and Masculinity [5:11]
32. Blot and Gu [3:53]
33. The Pinnacle of His Career [1:15]
1. Color Bars [:20]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Le Deuxihme Souffle
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Editorial Reviews

Director Jean-Pierre Melville's obsession with American crime thrillers is in abundant evidence in Le Deuxieme Souffle, an excellent film despite being a bit too long. Melville's obsession is not, fortunately, concerned with merely copying its American counterparts, but in using them as a model against which he can play variations of his own, until what emerges has a life and vibrancy that is unique to itself. Significantly, Souffle also allows Melville to make some subtle (and not so subtle) allusions to Nazi-occupied France and the problem of resistance vs. cooperation; this is most evident toward the end of the film, when the leading character becomes a man trying to escape his pursuers while trying to, in his own way, clear his name. Melville's direction is taut, despite the film's 150-minute playing time, and tension is present almost throughout. He does a marvelous job with the set pieces that are the lifeblood of this particular genre, and the hijacking of the armored vehicle is especially effective. Souffle isn't perfect; some of it feels a bit unfinished, as if Melville didn't quite achieve what he was aiming for. But there's so much power and impact that most will be willing to forgive Le Deuxieme Souffle its lapses and revel in its pleasures.