Jean-Pierre Melville (born Jean-Pierre Grumbach, October 20, 1917 – August 2, 1973) was a noted French filmmaker. He later adopted the pseudonym Melville as a tribute to his favorite American author, Herman Melville.
Born in Paris, France, Melville, who was alsatian jewish, served in World War II and fought in Operation Dragoon. When he returned from the war he applied for a license to become an assistant director, but was refused. Without this support, he decided to direct his films by his own means.
He became an independent film-maker, owning his own studios, and became famous for his tragic, minimalist films noirs, such as Le Samouraï and Le Cercle rouge, starring major, charismatic actors like Alain Delon (probably the definitive 'melvillian' actor), Jean-Paul Belmondo and Lino Ventura. His directorial style was influenced by American cinema and fetishized accessories like weapons, clothes and especially hats.
His independence and his "reporting" style of film-making (he was one of the first French directors to use real locations) were a major influence on the French New Wave film movement, and he appears as a minor character in Jean-Luc Godard's seminal New Wave film Breathless.
Melville died from a heart attack at the age of 55. To this day he remains an important influence for directors like John Woo, Ringo Lam, Quentin Tarantino, and Jim Jarmusch.
