Melville’s Tools of Bob le flambeur Essay -- Herman Melville French Fi

Melville’s Tools of Bob le flambeur Removing the sound from Melville’s Bob le flambeur might lead one to believe that he or she is watching a Hollywood film noir, circa 1950. Melville, though not professionally trained as a director, manages to create an oddly stirring and quirky French film shrouded in the sheer curtain of Hollywood film noir. Though he retains much of the Hollywood style, he also employs tools of his own—camera movement and voice-over—to embrace the film in Melville-vigilante-style. Melville uses the trademarked tools of the noir film. For example, high key lighting and, therefore, deep shadows play a key determinant in one of the first scenes of Bob le flambeur. After establishing the setting through the reflection on a darkened window pane, the camera pans left to reveal five or six men standing around a table, lit only by the hanging lamp at least one foot below each of their chins. This leaves the men’s faces encompassed by darkness, forcing the audience to watch their hands and the gambling that is taking place. While all these factors—high key lighting, flooding shadows, tall, looming men, gambling, and near silence—all lend to the typical noir style, Melville uses odd camera movements to remain distinct. Within the same scene, there is a shot of Bob rolling dice; the camera swoops upward, as though coming from underneath the table, and ends up in a high angle shot, shooting downward at the dice. Now, combine that sweeping movem ent with the next cut, and Melville’s distinction appears. After the dice have been rolled, there is a three-quarter shot of Bob, who claps his hands once and walks off screen left. Suddenly, the camera lurches forward, as if to catch a glimpse of something that li... ...lationship can be seen in Hawks’ 1944 film To Have and Have Not; Humphrey Bogart plays stern and experienced Harry Morgan, a man involved with Lauren Bacall’s character, Slim, a husky-voiced, wise young woman who butts heads with men. While the characters are written in the same essence, the acting in these cases also seems similar; Roger Duchesne and Humphrey Bogart both are older, stoic and serious where Isabel Corey and Lauren Bacall both are beautiful, young, quick-witted and seemingly independent. Melville’s attempt to Americanize himself proved successful—his name he changed in honor of American novelist Herman Melville and he often wore a cowboy hat. Though Bob le flambeur is very much a tribute to Hollywood film noir, Melville manages to make it his own through quirky camera shots, over-the-top narration, and the set of beautifully grimy Paris streets. Melville’s Tools of Bob le flambeur Essay -- Herman Melville French Fi Melville’s Tools of Bob le flambeur Removing the sound from Melville’s Bob le flambeur might lead one to believe that he or she is watching a Hollywood film noir, circa 1950. Melville, though not professionally trained as a director, manages to create an oddly stirring and quirky French film shrouded in the sheer curtain of Hollywood film noir. Though he retains much of the Hollywood style, he also employs tools of his own—camera movement and voice-over—to embrace the film in Melville-vigilante-style. Melville uses the trademarked tools of the noir film. For example, high key lighting and, therefore, deep shadows play a key determinant in one of the first scenes of Bob le flambeur. After establishing the setting through the reflection on a darkened window pane, the camera pans left to reveal five or six men standing around a table, lit only by the hanging lamp at least one foot below each of their chins. This leaves the men’s faces encompassed by darkness, forcing the audience to watch their hands and the gambling that is taking place. While all these factors—high key lighting, flooding shadows, tall, looming men, gambling, and near silence—all lend to the typical noir style, Melville uses odd camera movements to remain distinct. Within the same scene, there is a shot of Bob rolling dice; the camera swoops upward, as though coming from underneath the table, and ends up in a high angle shot, shooting downward at the dice. Now, combine that sweeping movem ent with the next cut, and Melville’s distinction appears. After the dice have been rolled, there is a three-quarter shot of Bob, who claps his hands once and walks off screen left. Suddenly, the camera lurches forward, as if to catch a glimpse of something that li... ...lationship can be seen in Hawks’ 1944 film To Have and Have Not; Humphrey Bogart plays stern and experienced Harry Morgan, a man involved with Lauren Bacall’s character, Slim, a husky-voiced, wise young woman who butts heads with men. While the characters are written in the same essence, the acting in these cases also seems similar; Roger Duchesne and Humphrey Bogart both are older, stoic and serious where Isabel Corey and Lauren Bacall both are beautiful, young, quick-witted and seemingly independent. Melville’s attempt to Americanize himself proved successful—his name he changed in honor of American novelist Herman Melville and he often wore a cowboy hat. Though Bob le flambeur is very much a tribute to Hollywood film noir, Melville manages to make it his own through quirky camera shots, over-the-top narration, and the set of beautifully grimy Paris streets.