- Un Flic, translated to "A Cop", contains several excellent scenes that have the unmistakable feel of a Jean-Pierre Melville film. Anyone familiar with the director's work would know what four men in a car outside of a bank are doing and would hardly be surprised that there is little dialogue wasted as they do it. Even in this, his last film, Melville again illustrates that masterful attention to detail, deliberate pacing, and creative use of ambient sounds lend credence to the portrayal of otherwise incredible events. His films are characteristically slow, quiet, and technical without being boring; a rare cinematic achievement.
- The basic plot of Un Flic revolves around the efforts of the police commissaire Coleman (Melville staple Alain Delon) to catch a gang of crooks, led by the nightclub owner Simon (Richard Crenna). This situation is complicated in several ways, not the least of which is that both Coleman and Simon are in love with Cathy (Catherine Deneuve), who is herself far from innocent. While much of the film focuses on the gang's crimes, including a bank heist and an inspired train robbery (by helicopter, of course), eventually the two men meet for a final confrontation. Without giving away the conclusion, there is certainly some doubt at the end that Coleman has acted as impartially as a policeman should.
- The bank heist, which takes place in the midst of an eerily beautiful squall, reminds us of Melville at his very best. Unfortunately, Un Flic also bears the signatures of a depressingly low budget. This is unusual for Melville, who, although perpetually short on funds, had always previously found ways to conceal that fact of production from the audience. In this case, however, the model helicopter and train aren't fooling anybody. Moreover, there is at least one completely artificial backdrop that looked so bad that I initially assumed the characters knew they were sitting in front of a painting. Although relatively few of Melville's films can be found today (I've seen only six, and not for lack of trying), this is the only film of his I've seen for which the set design is actually a detriment.
- The more fundamental problem with Un Flic, though, has to do with the cheap facades of its characters. Although we are given hints that the major players in this film are interesting, none of them are fleshed out as well as we might have hoped. Melville's heroes and villains are typically aloof and hardly chatty, but there is rarely any question about what motivates them. In this case, however, we really don't know why Coleman is a cop or why Simon is a thief. Again, this is a strange departure for Melville, and I don't understand why it happened. Strange that Melville's minimalism would fail him only at the very end of his career.
