Review

A young Jean-Paul Belmondo stars as a police informer playing both sides in legendary filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville’s 1962 crime film, which features the director’s patented milieu of noirish desperation and aestheticized hopelessness. A bit talky perhaps—Melville hadn’t yet developed the terse stylization of his later films—but still, a gripping and effective mood piece from one of the greats.