Le cercle rouge (1970)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville

Writer:

Jean-Pierre Melville (writer)

Release Date:

1 December 1990 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

No place to hide..Nowhere to run..

Plot:

Corey is a cool, aristocratic thief, released from prison on the same day that Vogel, a murderer, escapes from the custody of the patient Mattei...

Plot Keywords:

Police | Nightclub | Nightclub Owner | Sharpshooter | Escape

Cast

Alain Delon	...	Corey
Bourvil	...	Le Commissaire Mattei (as André Bourvil)
Gian Maria Volonté	...	Vogel (as Gian-Maria Volonte)
Yves Montand	...	Jansen
Paul Crauchet	...	Le Receleur
Paul Amiot	...	L'inspecteur général de la police
Pierre Collet	...	Le Gardien de prison
André Ekyan	...	Rico
Jean-Pierre Posier	...	L'assistant de Mattei
François Périer	...	Santi (as François Perier)
Yves Arcanel	...	Le juge d'instruction
René Berthier	...	Le directeur de la P.J.
Jean-Marc Boris	...	Le fils Santi
Jean Champion	...	Le garde-barrière
Yvan Chiffre	...	Un policier

Also Known As:

I senza nome (Italy)
The Red Circle

Runtime:

140 min | Italy:150 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Colour:

Colour (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Brazil:14 | France:U | West Germany:16 | UK:A (original rating) | USA:Not Rated | UK:PG (video rating) (2003) | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-15 (restored version, 2002) | Finland:K-16 (original rating) | Norway:16 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

25 rue Danielle Casanova, Paris 1, Paris, France

Company:

Euro International Film (EIA)

Trivia:

Director Jean-Pierre Melville's green Ford Mustang can be seen in the line of cars at the Corey's (Alain Delon) first border crossing.

Goofs:

Continuity: There's a cut as Commissaire Mattei turns on the lamp in his apartment. The cat beside the green chair disappears and the cat in it switches from facing sideways to facing the camera.

Quotes:

Jansen: [dying of a gunshot wound] Still as stupid as ever on the force, eh, old friend?

Movie Connections:

References Du rififi chez les hommes (1955)

AFter a great first hour it sort of peters out

A French Caper film who's recently restored version has been making the festival and art house circuit.

The plot involves a man released from prison on the same day another man escapes from police custody on a moving train. Their lives intersect and robbery is committed....

The reviews for this re-release were glowing and when I discovered that Video Search of Miami had a copy I sent for it figuring that its the same price as a trip to The Film Forum to see it.

When the disc came I sat and watched the first 40 minutes before being called away. I loved what I saw and couldn't wait to see it again.

Six months later I have the time to sit and watch and starting from the beginning I revisit the first 40 minutes and travel on into the rest of the film.

Having made it to the end I have to say that I heartily recommend the first hour of this film. This is a film that brilliantly sets a mood and a place and the possibility that something great will happen. Unfortunately once the film gets to a certain point all the possibility runs away like the rain that soaks much of the film.

The trouble is that nothing is explained. We don't know what the job is until the jewelry store is cased. Characters come and go as if they will mean something and in the end nothing does. Plot lines are dropped, Corey, the released prisoner is being hunted by the mob and after a certain point that just ceases to be included until a moment of two later on when the crime boss he robs talks to the prison guard who laid out the "job". Things just are.

In the end this is a just a run of the mill crime story with a great first third.

Another problem is that the police inspector takes center stage for most of the later part of the film and while he is an interesting character, he just doesn't do anything interesting. This film is full of interesting people and events but nothing connects to anyone. So much feels left out, to the point that I can only wonder at what sort of a mess the short version was.

Can I recommend it? Well maybe, yea, sort of.

Its not bad it just sort of wanders off into "deep meaning" that means nothing.

Frankly Criterion is coming out with a special edition of this and I was watching it so I could decide whether to replace it. I'm not. Although I have a nasty feeling this is going to become one of those movies I keep re-watching hoping to get it, like Heaven and Earth, a Japanese samurai movie I've seen several times and never liked simply because I keep thinking I'm missing something.

That said the first chunk of this is really good. Hope for it to be on cable and to have a blackout occur an hour in so you won't be disappointed.