The Second Wind

A remake of a Melville classic. I'm not big on French Noirs, and even though Melville certainly isn't the worst of the bunch, his films never really spoke to me. I had a lot more fun with Corneau's remake, purely because of the cinematography. For me, visuals can compensate for a bland plot, and this film is just more proof of that.

Gu is an infamous gangster, who manages to escape from prison. The entire police force is on his tail, so he decides to pick up his former girlfriend and flee the country. They do need a bit of pocket money to survive, so they plan one final hit. The police have a cunning countermove that will make Gu's life that much harder.

With Auteuil and Bellucci in the lead, and Nahon as a notable secondary character, the cast is on point. It's the colorful, sepia-toned cinematography that does most of the hard work, the rest of the film is by the numbers, but as there's always something nice to look at, it didn't bother me at all.