LE CERCLE ROUGE
aka THE RED CIRCLE
Year: 1970
UK: BFI (Access)
Cast: Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Bourvil, Gian-Maria Volonte, Paul Crauchet, Paul Amiot, Pierre Collet, Andre Ekyan, Jean-Pierre Posier, François Perier, Yves Arcanel, Rene Berthier, Jean-Marc Boris, Jean Champion, Yvan Chiffre, Anna Douking, Robert Favart, Roger Fradet, edouard Francomme, Jean Franval, Jacques Galland, Jean-Pierre Janic, Pierre Lecomte, Jacques Leonard, Jacques Leroy, Jean Pignol, Robert Rondo
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Country: France
Language: French (English subtitles)
UK: 140 mins
UK Certificate: PG contains mild violence, language and drug references
UK Release Date: 4 July 2003
Synopsis
Snap-brim hats, cigarette smoke, trenchcoats and a seductive air of world-weary fatalism ... crime never looked cooler than this.
This brand new restoration of Jean-Pierre Melville's smash hit heist movie LE CERCLE ROUGE was selected for the prestigious 'Heritage' section of the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. Now the British Film Institute is returning the complete, uncut version to screens in the UK.
The godfather of the Nouvelle Vague, Melville inspired directors from Jean-Luc Godard and Francois Truffaut to Quentin Tarantino, John Woo and Wong Kar-wai. Melville admired American culture as epitomised by Hollywood movies of the 30s and 40s. He drove round Paris in a stetson and shades and took his name from the author of 'Moby Dick'. Influenced by directors like Houston and Hawks, he turned the American Depression era gangster into the deadly angel of a uniquely Gallic film noir.
In the tradition of THE ASPHALT JUNGLE and RIFIFI, the central set-piece of LE CERCLE ROUGE is the robbery, a silent tour-de-force. The modern model for countless heist movies, from OCEAN'S ELEVEN to David Mamet's HEIST, Melville's penultimate film was the biggest commercial success of his career.
Some of French cinema's greatest actors star as the shady quartet whose destinies lie within 'the red circle'. With superb support from Yves Montand, Gian-Maria Volonte and French comedy legend Bourvil, it is cold-eyed Alain Delon who excels as the quintessential Melville anti-hero.