Alain Delon’s Best Crime Movie With 100% on Rotten Tomatoes Is Available on Prime

Summary:

• The 1967 crime thriller, starring the acclaimed Alain Delon, scored the highest critical acclaim on Rotten Tomatoes due to its influential nature.
• It follows a thorough hitman troubled by a series of incidents happening to him after his first imperfect murder.

Back in the 1960s, it was Alain Delon who was the main overseas acting icon, gaining much recognition for his collaboration with such industry’s giants, as Luchino Visconti (Rocco and His Brothers), Michelangelo Antonioni (L’Eclisse) and René Clément (Purple Noon, adapted from the same name novel as Andrew Scott ’s recent Ripley).

However, there is another movie, which seems to be the most influential work of the actor, marked both by the critics and by the public. Its impact on cinematic history is difficult to overestimate, as it perfectly exploited the "show, don't tell" movie rule.

Its main character Jef Costello, portrayed by the reserved Delon, is a hitman who elaborately prepares for every mission he takes from well-paying clients. Everything in his life matter is brought to the ideal, however, one unexpected trouble occurs.

While carrying out a murder of a nightclub owner, he discovers a witness, the club’s piano player. However, she does not extradite him to the police on an identification, which makes him doubt his safety. Then his paranoia is fueled by somebody stalking him in a series of suspicious events happening to Costello in the streets of Paris.

The trope of “the hunter becomes the hunted” is used in a number of today’s action and thriller movies, including No Country For Old Men and the John Wick franchise. However, here it’s made in such a chilling minimalism with its sense of a quiet danger that leaves your teeth chattering from fear while putting you in the main hero’s shoes.

As for him, Delon’s Costello doesn’t utter many words and lacks even facial expressions that would say something about his emotional condition in such a situation. However, he delivers the strong-willed and determined nature of his hero, maybe even superhero, by the look of his icy cold blue eyes and by the impeccably honed body language.

His performance seems to be the source of inspiration for Ryan Gosling ’s poker-faced hero in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, where he also prefers actions to words.

Besides, Delon’s 1967 neo-noir clearly influenced David Fincher’s thriller The Killer, with the snart character of Michael Fassbender being mainly focused on his profession and merely silent, apart from his interior monologue calculating his further actions.

Titled Le Samouraï (or The Samurai), this movie is definitely a must-watch, as its stylish cinematic code influenced the whole genre, featuring “the original literally me” character, as joked by Redditor @JaylenBrownAllStar

Alain Delon’s masterpiece is now available for watching on Prime.