Get Your Reps In: French Dreamboat Alain Delon Stars as a Stoic Hit Man in “Le Samouraï”

The 1967 sleek neo-noir involves a hit gone wrong, and both gangsters and police are hot on the trail of our protagonist.

Le Samourai (Criterion)

Le Samouraï (1967)

French dreamboat Alain Delon stars as stoic hit man Jef Costello in Jean-Pierre Melville’s sleek neo-noir. When Jef is accidentally seen by several witnesses during a hit gone wrong, his efforts to provide himself with an airtight alibi only get him into further trouble with both the gangsters who initially hired him and the unconvinced police hot on his trail. Clinton, Jan. 29.

My Own Private Idaho (1991)

An Oregon staple from Gus Van Sant (alum of Catlin Gabel!), this loose adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV follows two gay street hustlers (Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix) as they turn tricks in Portland. It’s a simultaneously gritty and tender exploration of friendship, identity and unrequited love. Cinemagic, Jan. 30.

La Ciénaga (2001)

French for “The Swamp,” this drama from Argentine auteur Lucrecia Martel follows a self-pitying bourgeois family as they languidly vacation at their decaying country estate in Salta (Martel’s hometown), where the summer heat and claustrophobic atmosphere cause long-simmering tension and resentment to boil over. Clinton, Jan. 31.

Paper Moon (1973)

When a con man finds himself saddled with a 9-year-old girl (real-life father-daughter duo Ryan and Tatum O’Neal), they quickly find a way to make the most of it: by forming an unlikely partnership and swindling their way across Great Depression-era America. Screens as a tribute to the late, great New Hollywood director Peter Bogdanovich. Hollywood, Jan. 31.

Se7en (1995)

“WHAT’S IN THE BOoOoOoOoX?!?!” In one of crime-thriller king David Fincher’s several masterpieces, a hotheaded junior detective (Brad Pitt) and his seasoned partner (Morgan Freeman) work together to solve a series of gruesome murders, each based on one of the seven deadly sins. Cinemagic, Jan. 31.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: Amores Perros (2000), Jan. 28-30. Academy: The Road Warrior (1981), Jan. 26-27. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Jan. 26-27. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985), Jan. 28-Feb. 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Jan. 28-Feb. 3. Cinemagic: Pacific Rim (2013), Jan. 28. Trancers (1984), Jan. 28. Inception (2010), Jan. 29. Dunkirk (2017), Jan. 29. The Iron Giant (1999), Jan. 30. Dumb and Dumber (1994), Jan. 30. Clinton: Wings of Desire (1987), Jan. 26. Pather Panchali (1955), Jan. 27. Dead Man (1995), Jan. 28. The Vanishing (1988), Jan. 28. Monterey Pop (1968), Jan. 30. Man Is Not a Bird (1965), Feb. 1. Hollywood: Battlestar Galactica double feature, Jan. 26. Purple Rain (1984), Jan. 29. Night of the Kickfighters (1988), Feb. 1.

Mia  Vicino

Mia Vicino moved to Portland at the tender age of 11 months. She spent her teen years dancing to alt-rock bands at the Crystal Ballroom, but has since moved on to fawning over 70mm film screenings at the Hollywood Theatre.

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