Jean-Pierre Melville

Directing

Jean-Pierre Melville

Born 1917-10-20 · Paris, France

Jean-Pierre Grumbach (20 October 1917 – 2 August 1973), known professionally as Jean-Pierre Melville (French: [mɛlvil]), was a French filmmaker. Considered a spiritual father of the French New Wave, he was one of the first fully-independent French filmmakers to achieve commercial and critical success. His works include the crime dramas Bob le flambeur (1956), Le Doulos (1962), Le Samouraï (1967), and Le Cercle Rouge (1970), and the war films Le Silence de la mer (1949) and Army of Shadows (1969). Melville's subject matter and approach to filmmaking was heavily influenced by his service in the French Resistance during World War II, during which he adopted the pseudonym 'Melville' as a tribute to his favorite American author Herman Melville. He kept it as his stage name once the war was over. His sparse, existentialist but stylish approach to film noir and later neo-noir films, many of them in the crime dramas, have been highly influential to future generations of filmmakers. Roger Ebert appraised him as "one of the greatest directors." Description above from the Wikipedia article Jean-Pierre Melville, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Acting credits

Breathless poster
7.5

A small-time thief steals a car and impulsively murders a motorcycle policeman. Wanted by the authorities, he attempts to persuade a girl to run away to Italy with him.

Breathless

1960

Orpheus poster
7.6

A famous poet in postwar Paris, scorned by the Left Bank youth, is in love with both his wife Eurydice and a mysterious princess. Seeking inspiration, the poet becomes obsessed and follows the princess from the world of the living to the land of the dead.

Orpheus

1950

Bluebeard poster
6.4

Paris, France, during the First World War. While thousands of soldiers die every day on the battlefields, Henri Landru, a seemingly respectable furniture dealer, married and father of four children, relentlessly feeds his own sinister factory of death.

Bluebeard

1963

Bob le Flambeur poster
7.3

In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.

Bob le Flambeur

1956

No artwork available
NR

Director Jean-Pierre Melville and actor Lino Ventura are interviewed about their 1966 film.

Jean-Pierre Melville on the Set of Le Deuxième Souffle

1966

Belmondo: The Incorrigible poster
8.2

Charismatic and resourceful, seducer and daredevil, Jean-Paul Belmondo has always played his roles as he lived, at a thousand miles an hour. He had only one passion: to entertain the public with his smile, his naturalness, his energy, his stunts. But contrary to appearances, his destiny was full of pitfalls. This film lifts the veil on a founding childhood that allowed him to overcome many obstacles throughout his life thanks to the tutelary figures of his father and mother. Told from the inside with the help of his autobiography, interviews and unpublished archives, this epic story traces the career of this turbulent young actor who launched the New Wave in Breathless before becoming the popular Bebel, an indestructible and provocative vigilante. From film to film, this documentary paints an intimate portrait of a man who built himself up to reach the top: his triumphs but also his trials, his doubts, his secrets, his angers, his clowning, his disappointments or his personal dramas.

Belmondo: The Incorrigible

2022

Belmondo, le magnifique poster
7.3

With more than 70 films and 160 million cumulative tickets in France, Jean-Paul Belmondo is one of the essential stars of French cinema.

Belmondo, le magnifique

2017

Sign of the Lion poster
7.0

An American in Paris lives by sponging off his working friends, and throws a party using borrowed money when his rich American aunt dies, believing firmly in his horoscope.

Sign of the Lion

1962

Le Combat dans l'île poster
6.8

The charismatic, surly son of a wealthy industrialist, Clément, leads a double life as a member of a right-wing extremist organization. When he’s ratted out after a failed assassination attempt on a prominent politician, Clément and his long-suffering wife Anne flee Paris to the idyllic country home of his childhood friend, pacifist print-maker Paul. As affection blossoms between Paul and Anne, the emotional, as well as political tensions, soar and eventually explode.

Le Combat dans l'île

1962

Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau poster
6.7

A childhood in boarding school, volunteered at 17 for the war and dismissed for indiscipline, thug in Marseille turned gigolo in Paris, he became actor thanks to some inspired women. Then flying high, fast and far, thanks to his director masters René Clément, Luchino Visconti & Jean-Pierre Melville.

Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau

2019

Code Name: Melville poster
6.7

Mixing interviews, rare archival footage and film extracts, the film shows how Melville's works were impacted by what he experienced in his youth during WWII, and how it structured his whole approach to cinema, not only in its thematic but also in its aesthetics.

Code Name: Melville

2010

A Girl in a Pocket poster
5.0

A professor experimenting in suspended animation accidentally shrinks his dog and later, his female lab assistant, when she drinks the liquid by accident and shrinks to 3 inches tall. The professor keeps her in his pocket until he can find an antidote. Sometimes she's naked, too.

A Girl in a Pocket

1957

Lino Ventura, la part intime poster
7.9

The fall of 2017 marked the 30th anniversary of Lino Ventura's death. Whether in the role of tough cops or tough guys - in the 1960s, Lino Ventura was one of the most popular French character actors. The new portrait begins with the actor's childhood. He came to Paris from Parma in Italy as a child with his single mother and faced many humiliations in a xenophobic environment. The documentary explores the man behind the rough exterior and the tough characters he embodied, most of whom were courageous but introverted loners.

Lino Ventura, la part intime

2018

Two Men in Manhattan poster
6.4

Two French journalists become embroiled in a criminal plot in New York City involving a disappeared United Nations diplomat.

Two Men in Manhattan

1959

24 Hours in the Life of a Clown poster
6.2

The movie follows the clock round as music hall clown Beby takes off his make up, goes home for a meal, looks at photos and goes to bed to rise, spend a day in the village and perform with his new partner.

24 Hours in the Life of a Clown

1946

Les Rois de la comédie poster
6.3

At the end of the 1950s, four humor specialists simultaneously experienced recognition. Fernandel with “The Cow and the Prisoner”, Bourvil with “The Hunchback”, Jacques Tati with “My Uncle” and Louis de Funès with “Oscar” at the theater. On the big screen or on stage, each of these artists has a unique style of humor. They are the kings of French comedy. But how did they manage to become true box office champions? How did they experience their immense popularity? How do they still influence the comedy genre? And above all, are- are they funny in life? Where is the line between their character in the cinema and their real personality?

Les Rois de la comédie

2023

Delon-Melville, la solitude de deux samouraïs poster
7.5

No synopsis available yet.

Delon-Melville, la solitude de deux samouraïs

2024

Melville, le dernier samouraï poster
7.4

Like nobody else Jean-Pierre Melville influenced modern filmmaking. This documentary follows his creative process step by step, showing him becoming the father of the Nouvelle Vague and one of the most iconic directors of French cinema.

Melville, le dernier samouraï

2020

Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante poster
7.0

Gérard Courant applies the Lettrist editing techniques of Isidore Isou to footage of late 70's pop culture. Courant posits that his cinema offers an aggressive détournement to the French mainstream, reifying a Duchampian view of film: "I believe in impossible movies and works without meaning... I believe in the anti-movie. I believe in the non-movie. I believe in Urgent... My first full length movie that is so anti-everything that I sometimes wonder if it really does exist!"

Urgent ou à quoi bon exécuter des projets puisque le projet est en lui-même une jouissance suffisante

1977

No artwork available
7.7

Shot while he was preparing Un Flic, Melville carefully leads Labarthe through the trajectory of his career, from his daring debut The Silence of the Sea to his great successes of the 1960s, Le Samourai and Le cercle rouge. Labarthe also details the development of the Melville “myth: the dark glasses, the trenchcoats, the Ford Mustang, and his general tough-guy demeanor. This documentary first appeared as an episode on the French television series "Cinéastes de notres temps".

Jean-Pierre Melville: Portrait in 9 Poses

1971

Melville-Delon: Honor and Night poster
NR

Documentary exploring the friendship between French director Jean-Pierre Melville and actor Alain Delon, and their collaboration on the 1967 film Le samouraï.

Melville-Delon: Honor and Night

2011

Behind the camera

Le Samouraï poster
7.8

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

Le Samouraï

1967

Le Samouraï poster
7.8

After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts, finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

Le Samouraï

1967

Un Flic poster
6.6

A Parisian police chief has an affair, but unbeknownst to him, the boyfriend of the woman he’s having an affair with is a bank robber planning a heist.

Un Flic

1972

Un Flic poster
6.6

A Parisian police chief has an affair, but unbeknownst to him, the boyfriend of the woman he’s having an affair with is a bank robber planning a heist.

Un Flic

1972

Le Cercle Rouge poster
7.6

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

Le Cercle Rouge

1970

Le Cercle Rouge poster
7.6

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

Le Cercle Rouge

1970

Army of Shadows poster
7.9

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Army of Shadows

1969

Army of Shadows poster
7.9

Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.

Army of Shadows

1969

Bob le Flambeur poster
7.3

In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.

Bob le Flambeur

1956

Bob le Flambeur poster
7.3

In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.

Bob le Flambeur

1956

Bob le Flambeur poster
7.3

In Paris, Bob Montagne is practically synonymous with gambling -- and winning. He is kind, classy and well-liked by virtually everyone in town, including police inspector Ledru. However, when Bob's luck turns sour, he begins to lose friends and makes the most desperate gamble of his life: to rob the Deauville casino during Grand Prix weekend, when the vaults are full. Unfortunately, Bob soon learns that the game is rigged and the cops are on to him.

Bob le Flambeur

1956

Le Deuxième Souffle poster
7.7

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

Le Deuxième Souffle

1966

Le Deuxième Souffle poster
7.7

A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.

Le Deuxième Souffle

1966

Le Doulos poster
7.4

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Le Doulos

1962

Le Doulos poster
7.4

Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just released from prison and is already involved in what should be a simple heist. By the end of this brutal, twisting, and multilayered policier, who will be left to trust?

Le Doulos

1962

Léon Morin, Priest poster
7.1

Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.

Léon Morin, Priest

1961

Léon Morin, Priest poster
7.1

Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.

Léon Morin, Priest

1961

The Silence of the Sea poster
7.5

In a small town in WWII France, a German officer is billeted in the house of an elderly man and his niece who resist the occupation by refusing to interact with him, even as he speaks to them candidly about his life and hopes for the future of France and Germany.

The Silence of the Sea

1949

The Silence of the Sea poster
7.5

In a small town in WWII France, a German officer is billeted in the house of an elderly man and his niece who resist the occupation by refusing to interact with him, even as he speaks to them candidly about his life and hopes for the future of France and Germany.

The Silence of the Sea

1949

The Strange Ones poster
6.6

Elisabeth and her brother Paul live isolated from much of the world after Paul is injured in a snowball fight. As a coping mechanism, the two conjure up a hermetic dream of their own making. Their relationship, however, isn't exactly wholesome. Jealousy and a malevolent undercurrent intrude on their fantasy when Elisabeth invites the strange Agathe to stay with them -- and Paul is immediately attracted to her.

The Strange Ones

1950

The Strange Ones poster
6.6

Elisabeth and her brother Paul live isolated from much of the world after Paul is injured in a snowball fight. As a coping mechanism, the two conjure up a hermetic dream of their own making. Their relationship, however, isn't exactly wholesome. Jealousy and a malevolent undercurrent intrude on their fantasy when Elisabeth invites the strange Agathe to stay with them -- and Paul is immediately attracted to her.

The Strange Ones

1950

The Strange Ones poster
6.6

Elisabeth and her brother Paul live isolated from much of the world after Paul is injured in a snowball fight. As a coping mechanism, the two conjure up a hermetic dream of their own making. Their relationship, however, isn't exactly wholesome. Jealousy and a malevolent undercurrent intrude on their fantasy when Elisabeth invites the strange Agathe to stay with them -- and Paul is immediately attracted to her.

The Strange Ones

1950

Magnet of Doom poster
6.3

Young boxer Michel Maudet is sacked by his manager after a series of match defeats and is forced to look for a new job. He is engaged as secretary to a millionaire named Ferchaux who is in a hurry to flee the country when he discovers he has been implicated in a high-profile fraud.

Magnet of Doom

1963

Magnet of Doom poster
6.3

Young boxer Michel Maudet is sacked by his manager after a series of match defeats and is forced to look for a new job. He is engaged as secretary to a millionaire named Ferchaux who is in a hurry to flee the country when he discovers he has been implicated in a high-profile fraud.

Magnet of Doom

1963