“Melville made the coolest gangster films ever.”
– Quentin Tarantino

Perhaps THE foundational example of neo-noir, Jean‑Pierre Melville’s LE SAMOURAÏ directly inspired a long list of directors that includes Quentin Tarantino, John Woo, and Michael Mann, the Coen Bros., and more.

Don’t miss your chance to see it on the big screen, newly restored in 4K by Janus Films!

Get tickets HERE.

“Like a painter or a musician, a filmmaker can suggest complete mastery with just a few strokes. Melville involves us in the spell of LE SAMOURAÏ before a word is spoken.”
– Roger Ebert

“The closest thing to a perfect movie that I have ever seen.”
– John Woo

“An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool.”
— IndieWire

“THE EPITOME OF FRENCH COOL.”
– Time Out

“A MASTERPIECE… DELON IN THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME… REVOLUTIONIZED THE ACTION GENRE.”
– Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine

“In the opening shot, Jef is laid out on a bed, at one side of the frame, like the dreaming St. Ursula in Carpaccio’s famous painting from 1495. The only difference is that the blessed saint is not enjoying a slow Gitane. Eventually, Jef rises from his restful pose to don his coat and gray hat, standing before the mirror and running his fingers around the front of the brim to insure that he looks sharp. This is not vanity; the sharpness is like a blade—a guarantee that his presence, and his skills, will slice into his environment at the most acute and most profitable angle.”
– Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

In a career-defining performance, Alain Delon plays Jef Costello, a contract killer with samurai instincts. After carrying out a flawlessly planned hit, Jef finds himself caught between a persistent police investigator and a ruthless employer, and not even his armor of fedora and trench coat can protect him.

An elegantly stylized masterpiece of cool by maverick director Jean‑Pierre Melville, Le samouraï is a razor-sharp cocktail of 1940s American gangster cinema and 1960s French pop culture—with a liberal dose of Japanese lone-warrior mythology.