Un nommé La Rocca (US: A Man Called Rocca) is a synthesis of some of France’s greatest forces in crime cinema just at the start of the French New Wave. In making the film, producer Jean-Pierre Melville brought together three fresh noir talents: actor Jean-Paul Belmondo who had just achieved superstardom in Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless; writer José Giovanni who had just made a name for himself with Le trou (1960) and Classe tous risques (1960); and director Jean Becker, the son of master crime director Jacques Becker. The result is a harsh cinematic cocktail that combines painting-like B&W compositions, hiccups of brutal violence, and even moments of surrealism. Narratively, Bel Mondo plays Roberto La Rocca, who’s searching for the former business partner who framed his best friend Xavier Adé (Pierre Vaneck) for murder. Roberto’s journey comprises three primary episodes: his reclaiming of Xavier’s stake in the gambling joint, his impoundment in prison where he meets up with Xavier in solitary confinement, and his voluntary, prison-sponsored “vacation” to locate and defuse land mines near the beach, the mine field a screechingly obvious metaphor for his chosen lifestyle. Christine Kaufmann plays Geneviéve, sister to Xavier and lover to Roberto, the intimacy of the threesome perhaps inspired by Francois Truffaut’s Jules et Jim from the prior year, and with similarly tragic results.