Three o'clock at night
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Three o'clock at night |
| Original title | Bob le flambeur |
| Country of production | France |
| original language | French |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| script | Jean-Pierre Melville Auguste Le Breton |
| production | Jean-Pierre Melville Serge Silberman |
| music |
Eddie Barclay Jo Boyer |
| camera | Henri Decaë |
| cut | Monique Bonnot |
| occupation | |
| |
Three o'clock at night (Original title: Bob le flambeur ) is a French gangster film by the director Jean-Pierre Melville from 1956 . It was Melville's debut in this genre, which he later shaped significantly and with which he expressed his love for American cinema. The film portrays a “player” (as the original title is) and “noble thugs” from the demi-world , but also conveys the mood of the city of Paris . The fact that Melville shot at the original locations and with a handheld camera instead of on the set was due to the extremely low budget for the film and at the same time established its status as a forerunner of the Nouvelle Vague .
The film premiered on August 24, 1956 in Paris, and was shown in German cinemas on April 25, 1958.
action
The aging bachelor Bob, who makes a living from gambling, is a well-known and popular star in the demi-world of Montmartre in Paris . Commissioner Ledru is also very fond of him; Bob once saved his life, and Ledru firmly believes that the prison sentence he served 20 years ago after a failed bank break-in has ended his criminal career. - As a player, Bob is currently on a losing streak. That doesn't detract from his generosity. Marc, too, who asks him for money to flee, wants to help immediately, until he realizes that the young man is using his girlfriend, who is threatening to report her assault, to work as a prostitute . Marc is arrested for pimping and only released by Ledru on condition that he spies for the police. The attractive, still very young Anne, who wanders through Montmartre, awakens Bob's protective instinct. He lets her stay in his apartment and encourages his personal protégé Paolo, the son of an ex-accomplice, to hook up with her - not least to isolate both of them from Marc.
A day trip with his partner Roger, which ends in the casino in Deauville , brings Bob another failure in the game, but also awakens his criminal energies when he hears what Roger learned from the croupier there : The night before The last Grand Prix was 900 million francs in the safe . Bob decides to commit a robbery. Together with Roger, he immediately set about getting the project off the ground: You win a financier to make the necessary preparations, recruit a team, train the procedure and let the croupier find out the details you need about the building and the safe. - Paolo, who is also part of the team, fell in love with Anne, one-sided. In order to impress her, he chatted the planned coup, which she passed on to Marc for the same reason, and Ledru, as agreed. Anne confesses her faux pas to Bob, while Paolo's attempt to make amends is to track down and shoot Marc when he calls Ledru to give him more information. The inspector, on the other hand, firmly believing he was wrong, confronts Bob, but he pretends to be innocent: He has nothing wrong with him.
The raid is scheduled for the following night, five in the morning. Bob's part is monitoring the casino for the hours before that. He promised not to play. But the temptation is too great. And now happens what he has long hoped for: happiness returns to him, richer than ever. It doesn't leave him even when he wants to break off and does what has been his undoing lately: keep playing. Within two hours he wins millions - a "booty" that seems as big as the one he tried to bring into his possession by force. He suddenly realizes that the raid is no longer necessary. He rushes towards his men to stop them, but they are already involved in a wild shootout with the police. Paolo dies in Bob's arms. Bob himself is taken away and put in the police car, the trunk of which is just filling up with his fairytale winnings. Ledru gives him hope that he might get away with a good lawyer at the age of three. Bob, quickly on top, announces for his part that he wants to use the money won to then open a casino.
background
The German title Drei Uhr nachts refers to the time mentioned twice in the film when the countdown for the robbery begins and could at the same time denote the time of Bob's arrival at the casino. The actual raid doesn't take place until five in the morning.
Three o'clock at night was made on a very small budget. For many shots, Melville used a small handheld camera that he had attached to a bicycle. The shooting lasted a total of 2 years, as Melville could only raise money for individual days of shooting and then had to telephone out the actors from ongoing, other productions.
The American film critic Roger Ebert comments on the acting direction : “The actors are not obliged to do much. Like actors in a Bresson film , they embody more than they evoke. Most of what we think about Bob is inspired by what people say about him and how they treat him. "
Three o'clock at night is now considered both a forerunner of the Nouvelle Vague and a classic of French film noir . Roger Ebert also regards the work as an inspiration for later casino films such as Last Exit Reno or Ocean's Eleven . Together with Rififi , Drei Uhr nachts is also an early representative of the heist movie genre. In 2002, director Neil Jordan shot a remake of the film called The Thief of Monte Carlo ( The Good Thief ), in which Nick Nolte played the role of Bob Montagné.
criticism
“Melville's first gangster film already contains all the elements of his brilliant staging skills; The atmosphere of total fatality which is characteristic of his later works is clearly noticeable. "
" Bob le Flambeur is a very funny, brisk film, and one can understand why Jean-Luc Godard , who Breathless made only three years later, admired him so much."
"A nice film, pretty rough, in which you can feel the influence of American crime fiction, but already with a pronounced" Melville style "."
Web links
- Three o'clock in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for three o'clock at night . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry (PDF).
- ↑ a b c d Detailed review by Roger Ebert (English)
- ↑ Three a.m. , In: der-film-noir.de, accessed on March 31, 2018.
- ↑ Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of October 15, 2003 for the DVD edition
- ↑ Three o'clock at night. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Vincent Canby in the New York Times. (English)
- ↑ L'Oeil sur l'Ecran (French)