90
Metascore
21 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertChicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe film is masterful in its control of acting and visual style.
- 100ReelViewsJames BerardinelliReelViewsJames BerardinelliIt combines stylish direction, an intelligent script, first-rate performances, and overpowering atmosphere into one of the most tense and absorbing thrillers ever to reach the screen.
- 100Slant MagazineNick SchagerSlant MagazineNick SchagerMelville’s 1967 masterpiece, which—through assuming the same systematic attention to detail as its iconically cool protagonist—achieves an atmosphere of mesmerizing, otherworldly beauty and grace.
- 100EmpireKim NewmanEmpireKim NewmanKeeping the dialogue minimal and the action high on the agenda, life in Paris' underworld proves to be surprisingly yet suitably violent and threatening.
- 91The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsLe Samouraï is a terrific film, at once a tense thriller and a fascinating character study, and only as cold as it looks until its unforgettable final scene.
- 89Austin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenAustin ChronicleMarjorie BaumgartenFrom its silent opening moments to its breathtaking double-cross conclusion, Le Samourai is the work of one of the film world's great directors working at his expressive peak.
- 80The New York TimesVincent CanbyThe New York TimesVincent CanbyDelon is fine and the movie has the cool delicacy and preci sion one ordinarily associates with something no more philosophical than a Swiss watch. Melville, however, is a philosopher and “The Godson” is as much parable as fascinating melodrama.
- An austere poem of crime, "Le Samourai" manages to have a grip of an old-fashioned potboiler as well. Not a half-bad combination.
- 75Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumChicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumBeginning with almost no dialogue at all, Le samourai unfolds like a poetic fever dream.
- 75San Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannSan Francisco ChronicleEdward GuthmannLe Samourai is beautifully assured and has a strong consistency of visual style and tone, but I can't say I had a great time watching it.