 "le cercle rouge" | 2009-02-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1ZZW5X74SJWH8 |
| The red circle is entertaining on a dramatic thriller level. The action entails purposefully and the cinematography is much on the level of the artistic. The main situation is cerebral rather than theme park speeded. The story is very enticing and pulls you in. |
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 "And another one..." | 2009-01-08 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1TXNKGFY855VW |
| Another great Melville film. you really start to get the impression that alot of director Michael Mann's influence was derived from Melville. just a really cool and slick approach to the whole "cop's and robber's" genre. great movie! |
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| "French caper film with cool cast" | 2009-01-06 |
| - Reviewed By bullit2513 |
Three years after director Jean-Pierre Melville made Le Samourai with Alain Delon, the duo teamed up for another classic movie in the crime/heist/gangster genre, Le Cercle Rouge. After serving five years in prison, a master thief named Corey is released on good behavior, but not before a guard approaches him with a difficult job, a heist that if done by the right people could make millions. Corey says he'll at least think about it if nothing else. On the way to look into the job, Corey comes across a fugitive on the run, Vogel, with the two immediately hitting it off with a mutual respect. Teaming up with a ex-policeman, the trio start to plan for the heist, all the while with a driven investigator and the Parisian police on their tail. This is a movie that plain and simple is supremely cool, mostly because no one tries too hard. The cast and crew know what they're doing and it shows. The heist, almost 25 minutes long, is full of tension after almost 90 minutes of the plot slowly unravelling. It's one of the best examples of a heist movie so don't let this one slip by.
Leading a strong cast is Melville's favorite actor to work with, Alain Delon, who plays Corey, a master thief fresh out of prison who quickly begins to plan his next heist. Delon is perfect for this movie because he plays everything so calmly, so cool no matter what the situation. Gian-Maria Volonte is the right choice as Corey's unlikely partner, Vogel, a mysterious fugitive on the run who takes his chance at freedom when it comes. There's a respect between the two similar men which makes the ending work that much better. French actor Bourvil is a good adversary as Mattei, the driven police investigator desperately trying to catch Vogel thanks to pressure from his superiors. Rounding out the leads is Yves Montand as Jansen, the third member of Corey's team trying to put some past demons behind him.
The Criterion Collection DVD is a must-have for fans of Melville. The two-disc set basically could serve as a biography about the director and his films. As usualy, Criterion pulled out all the stops in the extras department. And of course, the movie in its widescreen presentation has never looked better. Definitely give Le Cercle Rouge a try! |
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| "L'OEUVRE D'UN MAITRE" | 2008-12-11 |
| - Reviewed By User: A27HJJOS6CTOPP |
23h40 ... sur le boulevard presque désert, le commissaire Matteï roule à vive allure vers la gare de Marseille-Blancarde. Là, il doit prendre le Train Bleu en direction de Paris accompagné de son prisonnier, Vogel.
Au même moment, à Marseille, un gardien de prison propose à Corey "une affaire" au moment de sa libération ......
Héritier des grands polars américain de l'après-guerre, "Le Cercle Rouge" est un film exceptionnel.
Le scénario est solide et les acteurs superbes. On soulignera notamment un rôle secondaire mais essentiel magnifiquement interprété par Yves Montand, celui de Jansen, un ancien policier victime de "la perversité de l'ambiance dans laquelle il a vecu" et atteint de delirium tremens, sans oublier André Bourvil, étonnant de sobriété dans le rôle du commissaire.
L'atmosphère est froide, humide, les dialogues brefs, épurés, les hommes solitaires, pas de doute c'est un Melville.
Un film que l'on peut visionner de nombreuses fois sans jamais se lasser, à l'image d'un tableau de Maître, à chaque fois c'est le même plaisir. |
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| "A fine movie by Jean-Pierre Melville, and be sure to watch Army of Shadows" | 2008-05-06 |
| - Reviewed By ecder |
"All men are guilty," says the chief of the police. "They're born innocent but it doesn't last." Add this bit of nihilism to Jean-Pierre Melville's fascination with the idea of the crook's code of honor and you have Le Cercle Rouge. This code of honor among crooks, however, is not simply a cliché; it's a figment of the imagination even when film moralists -- realistic moralists by their viewpoint, romantic moralists by most others' -- began to make movies on the subject. Their theme is that it isn't what one does, but how one does it. We most often wind up with stories all about experienced men with their own sense of honor, stories where fate, fatalism and the code run things.
For most of humanity, except screen writers and movie directors, this would seriously get in the way of living one's life, raising one's children and being a good friend. This mannered fatalism is something of a self-indulgent notion. Le Cercle Rouge is, in my view, a classic film for people who may secretly enjoy the adventure of just missing the last bus home. But where Melville's Le Samourai - Criterion Collection, in my opinion, is style dominating story, Le Cercle Rouge manages the great trick of combining style with a strong story and with compelling actors. The point of the movie, in my view, is nonsense...but the movie itself is a first-class experience.
Melville's hopeless tale of three crooks -- Cory (Alain Delon), Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonte) and Jansen (Yves Montand) - is based on a bit of wisdom which is, maybe, attributed to the Buddha: That all men who are destined to meet, will...along with their destiny they cannot change. Maybe, because some believe Melville himself came up with the wording if not the thought. Either way, we know right at the start that this movie will not end happily, will depend upon fate and coincidence to set things up for us, and will leave us recalling the nihilistic philosophies we discovered and loved when we were in high school. Once Corey and Vogel meet and then gather in the unique talents of Jansen, we are off on a one-way ride to rob an exclusive, heavily protected jewelry story on the Place Vendome. The tension arises because we not only know the French police are after Vogel, we also realize that some determined crooks are after Corey.
The great pleasure of the movie, for me, came from admiring the work that Delon, Volonte and Montand brought to their characters, and the intelligent ruthlessness that Andre Bouvril brought to his character, the police captain Mattei. Melville hooked me as he developed these characters and their own situations; he built me up emotionally and then released me when he brought me to appreciate their probable fate and let me see see it happen. Melville establishes his set pieces -- the escape from the train, the escape from the woods, the later shootout in the woods, the meetings with Mattei and a man who refuses to inform -- with intriguing possibilities. He builds tension in all these cases by taking his time; a rare trait in movie making and an even rarer trait now. And Melville takes the time to build up Mattei as an individual. Mattei is a rueful, experienced man. He's a loner. He has a set routine when he returns to his apartment -- he greets his three cats affectionately, he draws his bath and while the tub is filling he sets out food for them. I don't know who Mattei is destined to meet, but I hope it's someone who likes cats.
Nihilism is always fashionable among some creative people and some critics. In most cases, I think it's a much harder task to set nihilism aside and to simply live one's life without damaging too many people. (And that's even more challenging to show compellingly in a film.) Le Cercle Rouge is a movie which, for me, tells me little, but it is in its own way, I think, a beautifully put together film.
For those who enjoy a well-planned jewelry store break-in and heist, there's Rififi - Criterion Collection. Jules Dassin manages this nihilistic story with a great deal of depth and tension. For those who simply enjoy expensive diamonds, Paris and a good mystery-drama with Catherine Deneuve, there's Place Vendome. For those who like Jean-Pierre Melville as much as I do, treat yourself to great movie making and watch Bob le Flambeur - Criterion Collection and, especially, Army of Shadows - Criterion Collection.
The Criterion DVD of Le Cercle Rouge looks very good and, on the second disc, has several extras. Criterion also includes a 24-page booklet. |
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| "Melville's best film..." | 2007-09-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2UYAFQ40U2PHS |
| This is my favorite Melville film, one that I constantly think about. Jean Pierre Melville never gets mentioned with the French New Wave or any other film movement, even though many have acknowledged his influence (John Woo is a major fan, for example. He listed Melville's Le Samourai as his favorite film). Here the film centers around 3 thieves pulling off a startling heist. The actual heist is one of the greatest set pieces in the history of cinema, running roughly 30 minutes and with only one single word of dialogue. You are completely mesmerized despite having no dialogue. The look and style of the film is all Melville. He really was a true auteur. Many (like Woo) have tried to capture what he did, but they can't do it. His films all have a beautifully washed out, muted colour scheme. The performances are always understated, almost Bressonian in their quietness and exactingness. Melville is the epitome of cool, but his films have an underlying sadness to them, and this one is my favorite among his works. Some have suggested that us film buffs like this just because it's "different", and that's not it at all. We love it because it's simply a masterpiece. |
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