Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Bob le Flambeur 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov August 16, 2024

Jean-Pierre Melville's "Bob le Flambeur" (1956) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include an audio commentary by critic Nick Pinkerton; Dominique Maillet's documentary "Diary of a Villain"; and vintage trailer. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

Bob le Flambeur works so well for the exact same reason Le Samouraï does -- it’s got the 'cool' that Jean-Pierre Melville legitimized. In this film, the ‘cool’ is cooked up a bit differently, but the end product is undoubtedly the same.

The main character’s name is Bob Montagne (Roger Duchesne), though most everyone calls him Bob le Flambeur (Bob the Gambler). He lives in Paris and is quite a bit older than Jef Costello, the professional killer that Alain Delon plays in Le Samourai, but is also a lone wolf that looks like a former model. His impeccable suits, his hat, even the cigarettes he smokes scream style, the old-school type that immediately demands respect. Naturally, he spends his time in places and among people that understand and value style as much as he does -- the card rooms and casinos where high-rollers, professional players, and those that aspire to be like them gather as soon as the sun goes down.

One half of the film works very hard to convince that Bob has a reserved spot among the winners. He has enough cash stashed away and when he gambles he regularly wins decent amounts that allow him to cover his daily expenses. They include leaving big tips at the bistro where he dines, and often even giving ‘friends’ in trouble a quick ‘loan’. The only characters Bob rejects are the pimps at Pigalle, because everything about them and their business makes his blood boil.

In the other half, however, Bob runs out of luck and over the course of a few hours loses all of his savings. But he does not panic and quickly gathers a crew to do a job that would recover his losses -- hitting the big Casino of Deauville and walking away with 800 million francs. To make sure that they can pull it off on time and get away with the loot, Bob and his crew then stage a series of rehearsals, during which an expert safecracker begins practicing on a perfect replica of the casino’s vault.

A few days before the crew hits the casino, Detective Ledru (Guy Decombie) is tipped that his old nemesis Bob the Gambler is getting ready to pull off a big one in Deauville. The leak is an amateurish mistake, made possible by the young rookie Paulo (Daniel Cauchy), who has foolishly revealed the crew’s intentions while making love to the former prostitute Anne (Isabelle Correy) after she was introduced to him by his friend Bob. Detective Ledru then invites Bob to have dinner with him and make sure that the leak is fake. It has to be because Bob, the old pro, cannot possibly consider a suicide mission in Deauville -- can he?

Despite the setback, the crew goes to work. Bob, wearing his finest suit, arrives at the casino a few hours before everyone else, and, while waiting for the clock to strike action time, begins gambling. At first, he wins small amounts, just to keep him into the game, but then slowly they grow big -- really, really big.

Everything that is ‘cool’ about this film comes from the casual atmosphere that Melville infuses into it. It is not identical to the one that defines Le Samourai, but it enhances the images of the main characters and the action in the same manner. What this means is that Melville trades the conventional cinematic glamour and stylization for a distinctly low-key street vibe -- which by the way is the exact reason why some critics have argued in the past that this is a pre-Nouvelle Vague film -- which instantly makes the aging gambler look incredibly classy and his partners authentic. This is the big trick. These characters could have emerged from any conventional crime thriller from the same era, or even an earlier one, but Melville humanizes them and by doing so gives them a new type of 'cool' classiness.

Before shooting the casino raid, Melville reportedly got in touch with some underground bosses that had previously authorized similar jobs and took notes from them. Also, a few of the characters from Bob’s crew that are seen at the end were played by real criminals.

A young Delon was apparently considered for the character of Paulo, but Melville turned him down and gave the role to Cauchy.

Bob le Flambeur 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Bob le Flambeur is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that all screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray.

This release gives you the opportunity to see StudioCanal's recent 4K restoration of Bob le Flambeur in native 4K. In America, the 4K restoration was introduced with this Blu-ray release in 2019. The native 4K presentation is not graded with Dolby Vision or HDR.

In native 4K, Bob le Flambeur looks sensational. Yes, this should not be surprising considering how impressive the 4K makeover looked in 1080p as well, but in native 4K the strengths of the 4K makeover become even more apparent and easier to appreciate. For example, density levels are exceptional, so even on a very large screen the tightness of the visuals is incredibly attractive. The grayscale is wonderful, too, though I do think that a few darker indoor areas could have benefitted from a competent Dolby Vision/HDR grade. Fluidity is fantastic. There are no encoding anomalies either. So, what does all this mean? Should you consider an upgrade if you already have the previous Blu-ray release of Bob le Flambeur? If you upscale the Blu-ray release to 4K, you will still get a wonderful presentation. I did precisely that to see if I can see a difference between the native 4K presentation and the upscaled presentation. However, if you have a very large screen, starting around 85" and up, and if you like Bob le Flambeur a lot, I would recommend that you consider an upgrade. As I noted above, the 4K makeover is outstanding, so in native 4K everything that is great about it becomes even more apparent and easier to appreciate.

(There are a few segments where it looks like the gamma/dynamic range of the visuals shifts/adjusts itself. This is not an encoding error. It is an inherited limitation. An obvious example can be seen around the 0:26.12 mark).

Bob le Flambeur 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.

While revisiting the film in native 4K, I did not encounter any issues to report. The comments below are from our review of the Blu-ray release of Bob le Flambeur.

The audio is clean, stable, and very easy to follow. Dynamic intensity is far from impressive, but such is the film's native sound design. The English translation is very good. However, I would have preferred a lightly bigger size for the English subtitles. They are a tad too small for my taste.

Bob le Flambeur 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by the always very informative Nick Pinkerton. There is an abundance of factual information here about the different locations that Bob le Flambeur visits, its visual style and tone (as well as the film's lasting appeal), the careers of Jean-Pierre Melville and some of the actors that worked with him, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber's release of the film.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary - this audio commentary was recorded by the always very informative Nick Pinkerton. There is an abundance of factual information here about the different locations that Bob le Flambeur visits, its visual style and tone (as well as the film's lasting appeal), the careers of Jean-Pierre Melville and some of the actors that worked with him, etc. The commentary was recorded exclusively for Kino Lorber's release of the film.

• Diary of a Villain - this recent program focuses on the era in which Jean-Pierre Melville crafted Bob le Flambeur, the old look of Paris that is preserved in the film, and the fascinating career and life of Roger Duchesne. Included in it is a lengthy interview with writer, screenwriter, and crime writer Thierry Crifo. The program was created by Dominique Maillet for StudioCanal. In French, with optional English subtitles. (26 min).

• Trailer - a vintage French trailer for Bob le Flambeur. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min).

• Other Trailers - additional trailers for the following films:
  
  1. Le Doulos
  2. Touchez Pas au Grisbi
  3. Razzia sur la chnouf
  4. Alphaville

Bob le Flambeur 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The two 'coolest' villains in French cinema were created by the same director, Jean-Pierre Melville -- the professional killer that Alain Delon plays in Le Samourai, Jef Costello, and the aging gambler that Roger Duchesne becomes in Bob le Flambeur. Also, all other French films about gamblers that were made after Melville's film essentially copy his blueprint, from Bay of Angels to Any Number Can Win to Cheaters. Some tweak a few things here and there, but the influence of Melville's classic film is always incredibly easy to recognize.

This 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack gives you the opportunity to view StudioCanal's excellent recent 4K restoration of Bob le Flambeur in native 4K. I liked what I saw on my system a lot, so if Bob le Flambeur is one of your favorite films, consider an upgrade. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.