Le Cercle Rouge (1970) August 13, 2008
Posted by Cal in : Thriller, 1970s films, Non-Asian , trackbackDirector: Jean-Pierre Melville Main Cast: Alain Delon; Gian-Maria Volontè; Yves Montand; André Bourvil Territory: France/Italy
“The Buddha took a piece of red chalk and drew a circle, saying: “When men, though unaware of it, must meet again some day, anything can happen to any one of them and they may follow diverging paths to the given day when, ineluctably they will be reunited within the red circle.”
This quote, attributed to Rama Krishna (but, like the quote opening Le Samouraï, was entirely made up by Melville) starts Le Cercle Rouge, a heist thriller attempting to emulate the great American crime thrillers but with a uniquely French flavour.
Alain Delon is Corey, a man given information prior to his release from prison about a possible heist target. Meanwhile, Vogel (Gian-Maria Volontè) escapes from custody from Le Commissaire Mattei (André Bourvil) and sparks an extensive hunt. The two men don’t know each other, but are thrown together when Vogel hitches a ride in the boot of Corey’s car. Together with Jansen (Yves Montand), an alcoholic sharpshooter with some severe personal demons, they execute a daring jewellery heist. Always one step behind, though, is Mattei.
Melville does another fine minimalist job here. The recurring theme seems to be that all men are guilty. One character opines: “They [men] come into the world innocent but it doesn’t last”. With comments like that, it’s not surprising the film has a very dark, nihilistic feel to it.
All of the characters seem damaged in some way. Corey is obviously nursing a broken heart on release from prison – although he never utters so much as a word on the subject during the entire film, Vogel is on the run from the law and might in fact be innocent of the crime he is supposed to have committed, and Jansen sees a menagerie of nasty creepy-crawlies and reptiles every night coming out of his bedroom cupboard. Even the policeman Mattei seems to have a very limited private life with just his three cats for company.
Again, the film has little dialogue, and whole minutes go by without anyone uttering a single word. Although the film is essentially about a jewellery heist, this does not actually happen until quite late in the film. Until then, it’s all about the characters as they travel from Marseilles to Paris (oh, and there is one shot of the Eiffel Tower in this film!). The actual heist section reminded me for some reason of the underrated John Woo film Once a Thief, although this is obviously a lot darker in tone than Woo’s light comedy thriller.
The performances are top notch, with Delon looking suave despite an ill-advised moustache. Gian-Maria Volontè will be familiar to anyone who has seen the first two films in Leone’s Dollars trilogy, and turns in a fine performance here. The real star, though, as far as I’m concerned is Montand as Jansen, who, after pulling off a spectacular feat of shooting, denies himself a drink but instead is content with a sniff from his hip flask. Le Cercle Rouge is great to look at, with fantastic cinematography and great camerawork. It’s also great to listen to, with a memorable jazzy soundtrack typical of the period that always invokes warm pangs of nostalgia from me even though I didn’t actually live through the period.
Dark, nihilistic, subtle, and oozing class, Le Cercle Rouge is a crime thriller unlike anything I’ve seen before and will probably reveal even more gems on future viewings.
Lam Suet-o-meter: Zero - for now. However, with Johnny To directing a remake, I’d be disappointed if he doesn’t show. With it being an English-language movie, though, I’m not sure how big his role could be. Fingers crossed…
Actually, the prospect of To directing a remake of this film conflicts me a bit. I hate remakes as a rule, but the prospect of To doing it does interest me a bit. I would have preferred it if it was a Hong Kong movie, though.
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I am not the biggest fan of remakes either, though obviously through history (BEN HUR) there have been good ones
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It reminds you of ONCE A THIEF because John Woo is such a fan of this film. A quote from John Woo: The Films: “…Jules (Chow Yun Fat) in Once a Thief turns out not to be crippled and enjoys a physical “comeback.” Woo has mentioned characters such as Borrachon (Dean Martin in Rio Bravo and Jansen (Yves Montand) in Le Cercle Rouge as further examples of this type.
One of my favorite moments is when Jenson picks up the gun to shoot out the lock. John Woo on that moment: “So, he looks at the keyhole, and [he says to] Alain Delon, take a look, and he looks. Good Yves Montand looks a while and smiles, suddenly he picks up the gun and fires! That shot means he really comes back. That kind of moment always impressed me. If you set the gun perfectly, there’s no emotion, but if you pick up a gun without any support, without any help, there’s passion” [John Woo Interview Nov. 8, 1995]
Jansen tests himself with that sniff. He no longer needs alcohol because he has truly “come back.”
I’m glad you liked this.
Melville can do no wrong as far as I’m concerned; have you tried Un Flic yet? Sometimes written off as lesser Melville, but it’s gripping stuff.
Yes, I hope the remake’s more like THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN than THE WICKER MAN! Once again, thanks for tipping me off to Melville, I probably wouldn’t have stumbled on him if left to my own devices.
John: I was very interested in Un Flic, but I’ve done some reading up and I wasn’t sure when people mention about the obvious model work on some scenes. What’s your view on this?
Actually, I’d appreciate comments off both of you on this!
The model work really is Gerry Anderson lite, but those minor deficiences are easy to ignore with a film that has some exceptionally strong trademark scenes - the opening bank raid in the rain, for instance, is a delight, pure Melville.
Warner issued it as a double in R2 with ‘Bob Le Flambeur’, but you can pick up both from Optimum quite cheaply, or for ‘Un Flic’ in a decent collection, splash out on Optimum’s ‘Alain Delon Screen Idol Collection’ which occasionally falls to around £15 or so.
Un Flic is Melville’s last directed film. It is OOP for R1 so I’ve been waiting for a better copy. It is also considered one of his lesser films by many critics. If I get it I will write you.
Probably good to get Bob le flambeur or Army of Shadows next. Both are on Criterion (note Criterion is also coming out with two more Melville directed films in a few months).
Thanks guys, I’m going to get Un Flic for sure. It seems reasonably easy to get hold of on R2, although out of stock at play.com right now. Probably a good thing, as I’m buying far too much as it is!
My mistake Cal, look what I just found: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00192QJQC/ A R1 reissue for Un Flic that just came out. I was hoping for a Criterion release.
I do think you should get Army of Shadows or Bob le flambeur since they are considered more important films in his oeuvre and have Criterion releases. I am behind on Melville so I’m not sure which one is the better one (so many movies so little time; I personnally take on too many genres
; watched Danish film Vampyr last night (1933)). Bob le flambeur is on Roger Ebert’s great movie list for example.
on a previous post: if I get more time for serious writing time, I would love to do a blog (on several topics including film), but first I would like to do more reviews
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Yes, now that I’ve seen a Criterion release, I’m keen for more. Still waiting impatiently for those Kurusawa discs! Bob le Flambeur has popped up a lot while I’ve been looking at more Melville, so yes, I’ll be getting more once I’ve got over this crippling credit card bill I’ve just received
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It’s going to seem strange when I throw out a write-up on the same film, but Melville is a favorite of mine and this happened to be playing in New York. I’ve seen it three times now and it’s simply mesmerizing on each watch. The minimalism really lends itself to multiple viewings. A room full of people and a large screen is really the way to go.
I’ll look forward to reading your write-up, Clydefro. I bet it did seem pretty great on a big screen - something that would probably never be shown over here in this day and age!