(aka "Doulos: The Finger Man" or "The Finger Man" or "Lo Spione")

directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
France 1961

 

Burglar Maurice Faugel has just finished his sentence. He murders Gilbert Vanovre, a receiver, and steals the loot of a break-in. He is also preparing a house-breaking, and his friend Silien brings him the needed equipment. But Silien is a police informer ... A movie whose "all characters are two-faced, all characters are false", according to director Jean-Pierre Melville.

 

Jean-Pierre Melville's existentialized gangster films are one of the glories of the French cinema, American forms played out with European self-consciousness. This 1962 effort stars Jean-Paul Belmondo as an informer on the lam, but plot pales before Melville's detailed noir imagery of dingy hotel rooms, back alleys, and subterranean passages. Melville's love for American films (he was a man of taste as well as talent) was one of the most profound influences on the New Wave generation.

Excerpt from Dave Kehr's capsule on the Chicago Reader located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: March - 1961 - France

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DVD Review: BFI -  Region 2 - PAL

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Distribution BFI - Region 2- PAL
Runtime 1:44:20 
Video

1.66:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 4.62 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

Bitrate:

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Audio French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) 
Subtitles English (non-removable) - They keep returning !
Features

Release Information:
Studio: BFI Video Publishing

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.66:1

Edition Details:

• Commentary by French film expert Prof. Ginette Vincendeau
• 4:3 Trailer (2:16)
• Director's Biography (3:16)
• Interview with assistant director Volker Schlöndorff (4:3 -  13:12)
• Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau (21:18)
• Acknowledgements


DVD Release Date:
April 26th, 2004
Transparent Keep Case
Chapters: 13

Comments:

There is a bit of softness in the image, but certainly less than one might expect for a 40 year old film. I see some good film grain, the audio was clear if unpronounced, excellent subtitles and the Extras are very complete. BFI has done another competent job in bringing this Melville classic to DVD. Bravo! out of     

Gary W. Tooze


 

Recommended Reading in French Cinema (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

 

The Films in My Life
by Francois Truffaut, Leonard Mayhew

French Cinema: A Student's Guide
by Philip Powrie, Keith Reader
Agnes Varda by Alison Smith Godard on Godard : Critical Writings by Jean-Luc Godard Notes on the Cinematographer by Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (Cinematheque Ontario Monographs, No. 2)
by James Quandt
The Art of Cinema by Jean Cocteau French New Wave
by Jean Douchet, Robert Bonnono, Cedric Anger, Robert Bononno
French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present
by Remi Fournier Lanzoni
Truffaut: A Biography by Antoine do Baecque and Serge Toubiana

 

 

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