Behind the Brooding Gaze: Unmasking Alain Delon, Cinema’s Quintessential Lonely Killer
The Existentialist Killer: A Look at the 1967 Film “Samurai”
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The movie “Samurai” (1967), starring Alain Delon, created the archetype of a lonely and ‘cool’ killer. Since then, many imitations have been made, including Korean movies like “A Bittersweet Life” (2005) starring Lee Byung-hun. In fact, it’s hard to find a case in a gangster movie where the killer doesn’t have a poker face.
The Plot of “Samurai”
The film begins with Jeff Costello (Alain Delon) lying on his bed in his bleak room, smoking a cigarette. His mission that day is to go to a nightclub and kill the owner. Before that, he meticulously prepares an alibi. The mission is completed easily. However, as he leaves the owner’s office, he comes face to face with Valerie, the club’s pianist. Valerie unexpectedly testifies at the police station that Jeff is not the culprit.
The Existentialist Theme
The main character of “Samurai” is often called ‘existentialist’. Existentialism starts from the recognition that human existence has no meaning. It is the same as the recognition that “God is dead.” As a poet said, even if you shout, “I’m here!”, the universe is silent. In such a universe, each human being must create meaning and value according to their own free will.
The Final Scene
The final scene is also important. Jeff, now that his identity has been revealed, will have to live his entire life on the run (and almost certainly be executed if caught). He chooses death over that. In existentialism, suicide is the ultimate expression of free will.
Influence and Legacy
“Samurai” has spawned many imitations, but it is mainly due to the ‘cool’ appearance of the killer, and there are relatively few such existential elements. Even in “La Dolce Vita”, the protagonist’s violence has a common-sense motive of revenge or retribution. On the other hand, Jeff in ”Samurai” does not have such a psychologically valid motive. He only has a nihilistic motive called ‘money’.
The Decline of Existentialism
As a cultural phenomenon, existentialism began to decline in the late 1960s. It was replaced by the Vietnam War and the subsequent anti-war movement, the civil rights movement, and, ideologically, structuralism.