Le Cercle rouge
Jean-Pierre Melville
While being transferred from Marseille to Paris, public enemy Vogel escapes from the watchful eye of his guard, Commissaire Mattei. After escaping he takes refuge in the boot of the car of Corey, who has just been released from prison. Vogel and Corey become accomplices, and call on the help of Jansen, a former cop fired for drinking, to carry out a hold-up on a jeweller's. The robbery goes perfectly, but they still have to shift the jewels. Commissaire Mattei is determined to catch Vogel and passes himself off as a potential buyer for the diamonds...
With : Alain Delon, André Bourvil, Yves Montand, François Perier, Gian Maria Volonté
Screenplay : Jean-Pierre Melville
Image : Henri Decaë
Sound : Jacques Gallois
Editing : Jean-Pierre Melville
Decors : Théo Meurisse
Music : Eric Demarsan
Screenplay : Jean-Pierre Melville
Image : Henri Decaë
Sound : Jacques Gallois
Editing : Jean-Pierre Melville
Decors : Théo Meurisse
Music : Eric Demarsan
Production : Corona Films (Paris), Selenia (Rome)
Distribution: Tamasa Distribution
Distribution: Tamasa Distribution
Le Cercle rouge (The Red Circle) is Jean-Pierre Melville's greatest triumph with audiences, and was also unanimously praised by the critics. It was also Bourvil's last appearance on screen, in a tragic, un-typecast role. The film is driven forward by a quintet of outstanding actors and sucks its energy from the make-up of the characters who appear to be "pawns on a chessboard in a loaded game" (J. Zimmer). It is a modern western imbued with a dreamlike quality brought by the photography of Henri Decaë, in which all roads lead to "the red circle", in this case, the circle of death. "This is by far from the most difficult film I've made, because I have written all the problems into it, and I didn't do myself a favour by writing them" (J-P Melville). With this film Melville has reached the pinnacle of a genre which has become synonymous with himself.