Le Doulos - Contextual Themes

Contextual Themes

Obvious themes explored in Le Doulos are those of friendship and loyalty among men. Several characters are manipulated, backstabbed and framed for crimes they did not commit. Murder is, of course, prevalent as well. However, these are only broad themes that assist the film’s storytelling, while certain other, more socially implicating themes, are subtly tucked away.

Traditional to several Melville films is the notion that the French police force of the time was fallible to the point of exploitation based on patterns of officials’ behavior. In Le Samourai, the main character plans around the assumed reaction of the police force. However, Melville reassures us that all hope is not lost: in each film, the police force saves face by employing the services of an impeccably clever detective character. Here, the police superintendent notices such subtleties as the way in which one man’s trench coat had been wrinkled – from this, it was evident that the man had been physically held up after being shot while attempting to escape the police. This is evidence that there was an accomplice, mysteriously absent from the crime scene.

Another theme consistent with other Melville films is the imperfections of subjectivity in memory, particularly when under duress. In one scene, Silien pressures a woman into convincing herself that she witnessed something she did not. In Le Samourai, during a police investigation, witnesses are led to doubt what it is they had indeed seen.

Female characters are used to a greater extent in this film than in some of Melville’s others. Here there are three women, all of whom function as extensions of the men. One woman is manipulated by Silien to agree to attest to a fabricated incident. Another woman serves as a maternal figure, while the final one is simply an object of desire to be obtained, though also a possessor of critical knowledge. These distinctly different types of women are all displayed in a negative light, and indeed Melville has gained a reputation for being a bit of a misogynist.