10 Essential Movies Quentin Tarantino Demands You See

3. Le Doulos

There's something satisfying about the way in which movies influence themselves - French filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville learned a great deal from the hard-boiled film noir thrillers coming out of America in the 40s and 50s, leading him to direct such classics as Le Samourai, Bob Le Flambeur and Le Doulos. As if reciprocating the effect American cinema had on him, his movies would then go on to feed back into up and coming American filmmakers, with Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino among his most ardent supporters. For Tarantino, Melville is a director approaching legendary status, with Le Doulos featuring what he described as "my favorite screenplay of all time". Tarantino once described Melville as "the Godard I haven't grown out of" - Melville's fascination with hardened criminals of questionable morality and heists gone wrong is clearly echoed in the films of Tarantino.