A joy to watch, this mesmerising movie is probably the director’s best and maybe Alain Delon’s best too. As the film progresses we learn that Delon plays a hit man and gradually that he may indeed be ‘playing’ this role. Cool though he is and slick as he appears we do begin to wonder whether the role Delon conveys is a cold calculating killer or a desperate wounded loner. If there is much of a difference it seems Melville cares not and presents this duality as ‘normal’ and indeed alongside most else in the film we believe more in Delon and his ‘role’. there are marvellous sequences, almost end to end. A great opening in his room, the hit and his journey to collect for it. His escapades on the glorious looking metro of the sixties and his dealing with the invasions of his room. There is nothing not to enjoy in this most assured of pictures.