Bob le Flambeur Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Bob le Flambeur Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 13, 2019

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

Ladies and gentlemen, no more bets.

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Jean-Pierre Melville's Bob le Flambeur arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a recent 4K restoration, and the film looks outstanding in high-definition. I did only a couple of quick comparisons with Criterion's DVD release because they instantly proved meaningless -- on a larger screen, the improvements can be so dramatic that there are sections where it feels like the film has a different flow. Just to be clear, it not only the improved fluidity that makes a substantial difference; there are new layers of fine nuances that give the street footage for instance a proper documentary appearance. Also, during the indoor footage, the balance between light and shadow is far superior. There are no traces of problematic digital work. Image stability is excellent. During the restoration, all age-related imperfections, such as debris, cuts, and warps, have been removed as well. Wonderful presentation. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Bob le Flambeur Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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

There are no technical issues to report in our review. 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 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• 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, 1080p).

• Trailer - a vintage French trailer for Bob le Flambeur. In French, with imposed English subtitles. (4 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - a brand new audio commentary 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.

• 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 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. Kino Lorber's new release of Bob le Flambeur is sourced from an excellent recent 4K restoration. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.