Day 80 - Bob le Flambeur

Bob le Flambeur (1955) directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

Bob is a pro gambler and ex-con. He is widely respected in the neighborhood, everybody knows his name, and even the head of police, Inspector Ledru, is friends with him after Bob saved his life all those years ago. He is also a gentleman with morals and a generous heart. He helped a friend open up a bar by lending her money, he took in a friend's son in as his protege, and tries to guide a girl away from a life on the streets. Yet for all the help he gives to others, he cannot seem to help himself. As cool and calm as he looks, there is a sense of desperation in Bob, the need to put it all on the line. He's been gambling for a long time yet doesn't seem to have things figured out for himself. He's never had that big run. He seems to be in no better shape now than he was twenty years ago. Perhaps that is why he takes on Paolo as his protege and protects Anne from being exploited by pimps, he doesn't want them to repeat his same mistakes, the ones he's still making today. In a bad run of luck, Bob is dead broke (a feeling I've known all too well a couple times in my life). A friend tells him that the casino's vault holds an unheard of amount of money and Bob suddenly gets it in his head to take it down.

At this point, the story heads into a different direction than I had hoped it would. I wish it would have focused more on Bob's gambling and the relationships he's fostered with Paolo and Anne. Instead, it becomes yet another heist movie, albeit a pretty good one. Bob gets a crew together to take down the casino with the middle portions of the movie being focused on the planning and scheming. It plays out like a classic American crime drama. Not surprisingly Melville was obsessed with American movies and culture. In fact Melville wasn't even his real last name, he took it from the author of Moby Dick because he loved it so much.

Bob, played by Roger Duchesne, is cool in the way his hair is slicked back and the way he smokes his cigarettes. When he walks down the street in a trench coach, you probably couldn't tell him and Humphrey Bogart apart from a distance. Bob le Flambeur is sort of Melville's tribute to Hollywood noir, but it is also known to be perhaps the first film of the French New Wave. I did notice some of those elements, like the hand held camera and stylish camera movements. (I did miss the jump cut the film supposedly has, which Breathless would later make famous.) I really enjoyed the first couple scenes where we see Bob in the black and white checkered room, such a visually compelling set piece.

SPOLIER:
The ending is very fitting and what I wished the majority of the film focused on, the destructive nature of Bob's gambling. While planning for the heist, Bob promises to not gamble until then to remain focused. But while staking out the casino he casually places an innocent bet and wins, pleasantly surprised. At this point, you know this will be his downfall. Naturally, he goes on the hot streak of his life and wins so much that people have to carry his money in boxes for him. He is supposed to rendezvous with his crew at 5:00 and misses the date. He looks at his watch too late and his crew arrives on scene to find the police waiting for them and a shoot out ensues, killing Bob's protege Paolo. Bob arrives outside just in time for Paolo to die in his arms, a heavy price to pay for Bob's lucky run in the casino. What a perfectly ironic and tragic ending. It is bittersweet since it appears that Bob will be able to get away with it, but at what price to his conscience?
END SPOILER


The life of a gambler can be quite bleak if Bob's story is any indication. It seems like every movie about gambler revolves around personal loss and struggles, a theme that has reoccurred over and over again in my life. I am eagerly awaiting the movie where a guy shows up in Las Vegas with $20 and turns it into $1,000,000 in one weekend and lives happily ever after.

Grade: B+


Note: Rereading this, this is probably the least thought I've put into a post, it is almost entirely all plot. It kind of sucks because I probably should have been able to give more insight to Bob's character or personal stories.