christopher-underwood Its just as well I was not aware of the running time before deciding to re-watch this classic in Blu-ray as it just might have put me off. Needlessly even so, I must say as this begins sensationally well, even if we are not exactly sure what is happening, and continues at a pace with barely a pause for breath. Actually, I suppose that it is not quite correct because although the first third is the coolest and fastest moving nourish, hardboiled affair, there is something of a near silent pause for the heist itself. Much more visible on the new disc, the meticulous preparations and execution are immaculate, appreciated even by someone like me who thought the actual heist the least appealing feature of the earlier Rififi. The last third of the film comes as something of a disappointment but that is simply the story not in any way a criticism of the mighty directing. Great stuff!

alexdeleonfilm Viewed at the Golden Apricot Film Festival, Yerevan, 2017. The peak film of the Yerevan week was without a doubt "Le Cercle Rouge", the 1970 all star gangland thriller by master of the genre, Jean-Pierre Melville. Not as well known as his younger Nouvelle Vague disciples, Truffaut and Godard, but a much better filmmaker, Melville specialized in deliberately paced psychological thrillers in which top French stars delivered some of their best performances. At the very beginning we are informed that the cryptic title, The Red Circle, comes from a fatalistic Buddhist capsule of wisdom which states that no matter what their divergent paths may be all men end up in the same Red Circle. The three men with the divergent paths here are (1) Corey, a cool gangster just released from prison and hoping to go straight (Alain Delon), (2j Vogel, a desperado killer on the lam, (Italian star Gian Maria Volonte) and (3) Jansen, a retired expert police marksman with a drinking problem and questionable morals (Yves Montand). They come together by fate to successfully pull off a tremendous midnight jewelry heist on Ritzy Place Vendôme in central Paris but will all end up in the fatal Red Circle due to a complex network of interlocking intrigues and betrayals. Bravado, integrity, and betrayal are recurrent themes in Melville films. Pulling them in to the fatal circle is another iconic French actor, Bourvil, as the wily cat loving detective relentlessly tracking the escaped Vogel all across France from Marseille to Paris, there callously exploiting his major informant contacts. (François Périer, another major French character actor). The long heist scene filmed in complete silence is spellbinding and a tribute of sorts to a similar scene in the Jules Dassin technically perfect crime thriller "Rififi" of 1955. Together with "Le Samouaï", another Melville masterpiece also starring Delon, Red Circle is an enduring twin peaks of French thriller cinema. Breathless entertainment all the way, and the work of a master craftsman at the top of his game. Cercle Rouge was part of a five film tribute to Maître Melville in the Armenian capital on the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

JLRVancouver Le Cercle Rouge is a top drawer French gangster film directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and staring Alain Delon, Andre Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè and Yves Montand. The movie is a classic 'heist picture', precisely and methodically moving through the set-up, the recruiting, the job, the escape and the bloody aftermath. The acting is excellent (although often minimalist) with Volontè (likely best known to most North Americans as the evil brother Ramon in "Fistful of Dollars" and the sadistic El Indio in "for a Few Dollars More) a real standout. A must-see for anyone who likes their cold-blooded killers snappily dressed in trench coats and fedoras.

Kirpianuscus for the story. for acting. for music. and for the wise manner to define each character. after many films from same genre in the "60'-"70', Le Cercle Rouge cold seems be part of a series. but the work of a great director, a splendid cast - the performance of Bourvil is one of the great revelations -, the care for details and the shadows of personal stories as mixture of flavors are the virtues of a thriller who remains more than memorable. a film about few people as signs of theirs worlds. about duty. and about forms of madness. all - very simple. almost like drawings of a state of soul. a film about solitude.and a splendid atmosphere.short, a film who must see. maybe, only for the delicacy to expose delicate things who define each of us.