{"product_id":"le-samourai","title":"Le Samouraï","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn this compelling study, Daisuke Miyao explores Jean-Pierre Melville's cult 1967 thriller \u003ci\u003eLe Samouraï\u003c\/i\u003e, a film that unfolds in a coolly stylised Paris where the paths of a contract killer, Jef Costello (Alain Delon), and the police commissaire pursuing him (François Périer) fatally intersect.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDespite its title, \u003ci\u003eLe Samouraï\u003c\/i\u003e, is not a sword-clashing tale of feudal Japan.  Rather, Miyao suggests that the film's philosophical framework draws on both existentialism and the samurai moral philosophy of bushido, or 'the way of the warrior', and considers how these philosophies may help explain Jef Costello's identity crisis and his concluding act of self-annihilation. In a close analysis of Melville's technical and aesthetic decisions, Miyao highlights the film's use of close-ups to convey or mask emotion, the play of light and shadow, and the function of flashbacks and dream sequences in the narrative, as well as the meanings of Costello's pet bullfinch.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSetting \u003ci\u003eLe Samouraï\u003c\/i\u003e within the shifting landscape of post-war French cinema, Miyao traces its dialogue with Hollywood film noir and Japanese art cinema, particularly Kurosawa's \u003ci\u003eRashomon\u003c\/i\u003e (1950), suggesting that both genres informed and influenced Melville's film-making.\u003cbr\u003eFinally, Miyao discusses the film’s enduring legacy, from Jim Jarmusch’s \u003ci\u003eGhost Dog: The Way of the Samurai \u003c\/i\u003e(1999) to Yoko M.’s 2020 novella \u003ci\u003eJef\u003c\/i\u003e, a prequel to the film.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Publishing PLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56413993828696,"sku":"9781839029639","price":18.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781839029639_1227a0ce-a0e7-4f89-bc48-8edf62146ff4.jpg?v=1779866126","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/le-samourai","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}