Le cercle rouge (1970)

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 | Pimp | Jewel Heist | Nightclub Owner | Nightclub

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

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

Color:

Color (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:

The heist scene lasts 25 minutes, with no word being spoken.

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:

Le chef de la police: All men are guilty. They're born innocent, but it doesn't last.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Yves Montand, what a man!!!

Not too interested in reality, I could sit back and enjoy this exquisitely photographed film. The noir mood was well set by the dark scenes. We were spared all the practising that must have been necessary in order for the guys to co-ordinate their dark deeds. What a team they made. And that excapee!!! How more dangerous can one man look....who was that eyebrow-hooded man? It would terrify me to sleep next to him.

The super cool ways of Alain Delon as he sits in the field, having done do=nuts around the wet field, and waits for the convict to come out of the trunk was a knock-out. But why did we see him swerving all around the field? He already knew he had a passenger, and knew his guns were in the trunk, readily available. The trick of throwing the guy with the gun First a cigarette, then a lighter....which the guy had to in realtime catch with the 2nd hand, dropping the gun, was inspired.

The failure of the watchman to hear the activities of the cat burglars was a little hard to believe, but maybe the security guy just didn't want to believe the noises he was hearing meant intruders.

Having the police equally complicit in the crime planning, but also showing the cat-tending old detective as morally pure was quite a study in contrasts. At first, the sight of 3 busloads of cops mounting the hill to search for the convict gave you a Keystone cop feeling, but then the equally ridiculous sight of the convict meticulously taking off his clothes, folding them and throwing them to the other side of the river.....with the sounds of the dogs in the background!!!!! Why? To intensify the suspense, I suppose. This film ...reengineered...was considered so good that the Brattle Theater in Cambridge just showed it for a full week (this from a theater that shows an old movie 2 or 3 days, tops). Well worth it just for the scenes of the talented detective feeding his cats, and the loyalty shown him by his boss to the minister....not what you'd get in corporate America. That's one reason I loved the film. These old movies in general show such pure people in contrast to Americans today, so lacking in hypocrisy and denial, so full of trust, you want to cry.