LE DOULOS (1962)

The French movie industry excels in film noir, and this is a hard-breathing but very confusing entry. Silien (Jean Paul Belmondo in a very restrained performance) is a two faced crook who's pals with gangsters and is an informant for his best pal, who's a police inspector. But, it turns out that all the crooks are two-faced, including Maurice (Serge Reggiani), a just-released-from-prison perp who was aided, and set up, by Silien. Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville, this movie has most of the makings of good film noire: starkly lit B&W photography, terse dialog, no heroes, etc. The plot, though, is hard on the mind, and, in typically cynical French tradition, they all die by each others' hands at the end. I though it was pretty good, but it was tough going.