Fresh
Melville's special achievement was to relocate the American gangster film in France, and to incorporate his own steely poetic and philosophical obsessions.
Geoff Andrew, Time Out
Le Cercle Rouge
No place to hide . . . nowhere to run . . .
1970 · 2h 20m · Not Rated
Crime, Drama, Thriller
Directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville
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Le Cercle Rouge
Overview
When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
96%
Tomatometer
Fresh
One well-choreographed, beautifully shot and definitely cool cops-and-robbers film.
Marta Barber, Miami Herald
Fresh
I can't say that Cercle Rouge is an overlooked masterpiece, but it's an amazing antidote to the current style of filmmaking in which silence and causal relationships are routinely disregarded.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Fresh
If you ever wanted to know how to look good wearing a trenchcoat, lighting a cigarette, handling a revolver, drinking a whiskey or overpowering an armed guard, Jean-Pierre Melville's 1970 gangster drama is your guide.
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Fresh
The director's penultimate work.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
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