THE NEW SEASON FILM/DVD'S; Le Samouraï

In Jean-Pierre Melville's end-of-an-era, end-of-a-man noir "Le Samouraï" (1967), Alain Delon plays a hit man so good at his job that he has virtually erased himself. He strides through the streets of Paris in a fedora and trench coat -- classic garb that screams "shady character" to anyone who's paying attention -- and yet even after he has committed murder, the witnesses have trouble picking him out of a police lineup. Mr. Delon's face looks as if it has been emptied, as if it were once able to show feeling but has now forgotten how -- or has simply become terrified at the prospect. He could be the Beatles' "Nowhere Man," except that in his noble passivity, he's almost more feminine than masculine -- he's like an old-fashioned vision of a bride, a woman waiting to be completed, but by what? This restored "Le Samouraï" includes archival interviews with Melville and Mr. Delon, as well as a reprinted tribute by John Woo, who has cited "Le Samouraï" as his favorite movie. That's no surprise, given that Mr. Woo has always been fascinated by gangster codes of honor and by the glimmers of humanity lurking in seemingly coldblooded killers. But in any lineup of iconic hoods, Mr. Delon stands out. At the end of "Le Samouraï," he's the bride stripped bare, left holding a gun instead of a bouquet. He finally gets what he's been waiting for: his bridegroom is taking him home. (Criterion, Oct. 18, $29.95) STEPHANIE ZACHAREK THE NEW SEASON FILM/DVD'S

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