Le Samouraï (French pronunciation: [lə samuʁaj]; The Samurai) is a 1967 French crime film directed by French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville, starring Alain Delon.
The story follows a perfectionist free-agent hitman, Jef Costello (Delon), who religiously adheres to a strict code of duty. He lives in a spartan apartment whose interior contains a neatly arranged line of mineral water bottles, cigarettes on a bookcase, as well as a little bird in a grey cage in the middle of the room. He is taciturn and goes about his tasks like clockwork. The film opens with a fairly long take of the protagonist lying awake on his bed, smoking, when the following text appears on-screen, attributed to an ancient samurai writing entitled Bushido (Book of the Samurai) (but actually written by Melville):
Costello has no criminal record due to his methodical way of working, which includes constructing elaborate alibis with his girlfriend Jane (played by Delon's wife, Nathalie Delon). He is hired to kill Martey, a nightclub owner. Despite his meticulous attention to detail, Costello leaves the scene of the crime with several people seeing him, including the club's beautiful piano player Valérie (Caty
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