Melville is quite simply France's master of crime dramas (no disrespect to Chabrol or Clouzot, who tended a bit more toward the mystery / thriller aspect anyway), and this film combines
elements of crime drama, police procedural, and heist film together perfectly into an
intricate slow burn
building to its inevitable climax.
Bright,
intricate and overlapping; the complex
elements built upon each other, carrythe viewer's eyes over and through an, endless looping, playground of planes.