Le cercle rouge (1970, Jean-Pierre Melville)

"Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, drew a circle with a piece of red chalk and said: 'When men, even unknowingly, are to meet one day, whatever may befall each, whatever the diverging paths, on the said day, they will inevitably come together in the red circle.'"

This is the epigraph with which the film opens with, is it an actual quote? Probably not, but it perfectly encapsulates the film and sounds pretty damn cool.

We begin with Vogel played by Gian Maria Volontè (whom you may recognise from the first two films in the dollar trilogy) who’s being escorted in handcuffs by commissioner Mattei (André Bourvil) to prison via train where the two bunk for the night.

Meanwhile, Corey (played by Alain Delon: Le Samouraï, Purple Noon) is enduring his last day in prison prior to his early release after 5 years, due to good behaviour. Suddenly he's secretly visited by a guardsman who informs him on the perfect score for when he's released.

The next morning, with Corey now being released, we witness Vogel's escape on the train and a manhunt begins. Here we have some exceptional shots with the enforcing of the manhunt and one in particular where Vogel strips down to his bare underwear in order to cross a stream, thus losing the scent of the dogs and keeping his clothes dry.

These two inevitably cross paths as Corey stops at a diner for a bite to eat when Vogel, now tired and cold jumps into the first boot of a car that's unlocked, which happens to be that of Corey's Plymouth. However Corey has witnessed Vogel's entrance but allows it, clearly aware he's the man on the run who is now all over the news.

As the film progresses, we witness these two gaining each other's trust and they decide to take the job that was proposed to Corey in prison but discover they need another man for the job, a professional. Luckily, Vogel knows just the man for the job.  In comes Jansen, played by veteran actor Yves Montand (The Wages of Fear, Z) who was once an inspector turned professional now deadbeat alcoholic who as we later find out is not in the job for the money, but for salvation, to rid himself of the beasts and become useful once again.

With the film slowly unfolding, we find ourselves in a what would seem to be standard heist arrangement, but as is the case with Melville films, it's not the material which is the spectacle, but the execution of the material, and of course the characters.

Jean-Pierre Melville has meticulously crafted a brilliant neo-noir with well developed characters and a very stylish atmosphere.  Yes this is a slow burner, but it's well worth your time. Not to mention the most astonishing heist scene since the masterpiece Rififi (on which the scene is influenced by and latter on even Thief) with no music score and 0 dialogue, just pure heist, no Hollywood glossiness.

This is a film that takes it's time and knows how to build a scene. We are sucked into Melville's mob world with it's amazing camerawork and aesthetic, thus telling the audience to just sit back and relax, you're in the hands of a master.

When this was released back in 1970, it flopped in the states with its cut version yet in France it was the 5th biggest film of the year in it's un-cut 140min version.  I vividly remember rummaging through a small video shop back when I was around 17 and stumbling upon a criterion collection DVD. I had no idea what the film was, the reputation behind it or even the director. All I knew was that it starred Alain Delon, it was about a heist and it was released by the criterion collection.

Lucky I was fortunate enough to catch this crime masterpiece on the big screen recently which was showing at a local art cinema. Melville wasn't just a great film maker, he was an inspiration. He helped spark a generation of film makers such as the French New Wave movement and even some great American directors such as Quentin Tarantino, who's film debut Reservoir Dogs is actually dedicated to.

Asides from this being a glorious homage to one of my favourite genres, this film ended up being my gateway to the wonderful world of Melville, my favourite crime director.

Rating: A

Click here for the trailer