slim jenkins
El Hombre Invisible
I watched Army of Shadows directed by Melville a couple of days back which is about resistance fighters in France during WW2 - it's really very tense and should definitely appeal to anyone who likes his other films. Hard to say what it is about Melville that means his gangster films are superior gangster films and his war films are superior war films but there's definitely something that makes them seem more cerebral without sacrificing feeling.
I'm currently watching 'Un Flic' but have mixed feelings about Melville. It's hard to detach yourself from the reputation some directors have and view their work objectively. I'm just not sure that he's the 'genius' he's reckoned to be, although 'Le Doulos' is very good, as is 'Le Samouri' - but Belmondo and Delon are so watchable that they seem to add weight to a film simply by their presence. 'Un Flic' has a fantastically atmospheric opening bank robbery (mostly due to the exterior setting), but I wouldn't say the rest of it is the work of a 'master' from what I've seen so far. Haven't seen 'Army Of Shadows'.
Just watched 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' - what a strange film. Again, it's reputation is hard to shake off but it has undoubted passages of brilliance...mixed with what I found to be overly pretentious dialogue in many places.