Bob le Flambeur

With any game rules apply. The significance of the moves you make depends on strategy. Never show your hand. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. How the game is played against you is not always fair. Being a polite opponent does not define a loser. Losing does not always mean the game is over, you can always play again. Perhaps the use of checker patterns symbolizes the way Robert Montagne of Bob le Flambeur, by Jean-Pierre Melville, symbolizes the way he views and live his life.

The checker theme is present in Bob’s apartment (kitchen floor), on his close friend’s office wall, and at Yvonne’s bar. These are the key locations where Bob contemplates his next moves. Between these locations he plays cards and dice, makes deals, and rehearses a heist, etcetera. In all locations Bob played a perpetual game of life and he is an admirable player.

I find main character, Robert Montagne to be very likeable because he displays decent boundaries. Anything petty is beneath him. He never sweats over losing everything. He refuses to finance a pimp. He has a patriarchal persona with Paulo and Anne. For example, he does not take advantage of Anne (a young woman) although she invites it. Instead he looks after her by offering her shelter. He does not interrupt intimacy or let anyone else, even if it is at his home. He also has a sense of humor. He is very private. All of this is despite the fact that he is a thief and a high roller. His one downfall is that his philosophy on privacy is not shared by others. This illuminates a strong theme within Bob le Flambeur.

A woman can threaten the strength of a man. Montagne experiences two breaches. Both occur because partners in crime (Paulo and Jean the Gropier) confide in the women with whom they are intimate. These condemning conversations are also both staged within boudoirs. This theme designs an unfortunate chain of events which conclude the film.

By the end of Bob le Flambeur, Paulo is dead and Bob is on his way to prison. The game is over, for now. Bob loses his hand, with grace and a sense of humor, and is thinking about the next.