Le Cercle Rouge [2 Discs] [Criterion Collection]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Corey (Alain Delon) is the young gun in the French underworld who has just been released from prison. Escaped convict Vogel (Gian-Maria Volonte) hides in the trunk of Corey's car. The two enlist the help of an alcoholic former cop (Yves Montand) for an elaborate jewelry-store robbery. Police inspector Mattei (Bourvil) whom Vogel escaped in the beginning of the film is on the case trying to recapture the criminals. He is not opposed to using blackmail techniques to get answers out of the unwilling witnesses and criminals brought in for questioning. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Subtitle: Eng
• Features:
  • Newly restored, complete, uncut version enhanced for widescreen televisions
  • Excerpts from Cineastes de Notre Temps: Jean-Pierre Melville (Portrait en 9 Poses)
  • New video interviews with the author of "Melville on Melville," Rui Nogueira, and assistant director Bernard Stora
  • 30 minutes of rare on-set and archival footage featuring interviews with director Melville and stars Alain Delon, Yves Montand, and Andre Bourvil
  • Original theatrical trailer and 2003 Rialto Pictures re-release trailer
  • Production and publicity stills, poster gallery
  • 24-page booklet featuring an introduction from director John Woo, new essays by film critics Michael Sragow and Chris Fujiwara, a reprinted interview with composer Eric Demarsan, and excerpts from "Melville on Melville"
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Alain Delon - Corey
       Bourvil - Mattei
       Gian Maria Volonte - Vogel
       Yves Montand - Jansen
       Francois Perier - Santi
       Paul Crauchet - The fence
       Jean - Marc Boris - Santi's son
       Robert Rondo - Policeman
       Jean Franval - Le tenancier d'hotel
       Rene Berthier - Police chief
       Paul Amiot - Chief of Internal Affairs
       Jean Pignol - L'employe du greffe
       Pierre Collet - The prison guard
       Roger Fradet - Policeman
       Yves Arcanal - Examining magistrate
       Jean Champion - Guard
       Yvan Chiffre - Policeman
       Robert Favart - Salesperson at Mauboissin's
       Andre Ekyan - Rico

• Director:

  Jean-Pierre Melville

• Producer:

  Robert Dorfmann

• Screenwriter:

  Jean-Pierre Melville

• Cinematographer:

  Henri Decaë

• Composer (Music Score):

  Eric De Marsan

• Editor:

  Marie-Sophie Dubus

• Art Director:

  Théo Meurisse

REVIEW:

• Part of the genius of Jean-Pierre Melville was that he was able to take the formal elements of the crime film and put a thoroughly individual stamp on them -- his best films take the stuff of a thousand grade-B thrillers and invest them with a singular intelligence and quiet cool. On the surface, Le Cercle Rouge concerns two criminals thrown into a slightly uneasy alliance with a corrupt and alcoholic ex-cop to pull off a heist, but in Melville's hands this becomes a story about kindred spirits brought together through chance and unforeseen circumstance; their lives on the other side of the law have as much to do with their own personal sense of ethics and honor as those of the lawmen who struggle to track them down. Melville's clean, elegant framing of shots and his appreciation of the value of silence gives this picture a spare but satisfying feel quite different from most European crime films, and the subtle but sharply etched performances of Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonte, and Yves Montand are the ideal embodiment of Melville's notion that less is more. In 1970, Le Cercle Rouge received a spotty release in the United States in a version cut by some 40 minutes; the uncut print finally received a belated American release in 2002, and in its pristine form, Le Cercle Rouge reveals itself as a film whose subtle touch only adds to the tension and suspense it generates -- a valuable lesson for filmmakers who believe that the function of genre filmmaking is to slap the viewer about the face and neck. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi