This week, we’ll be discussing the penultimate film in our summer film festival, the 1970 French heist film Le Cercle Rouge. Directed by renowned French New-Wave director Jean-Pierre Melville, Le Cercle Rouge is considered to be one of the greatest heist films of all time.
In the interest of keeping things simple and not trying to over-film-school this post up, I should say what has to be on everyone’s mind after watching this; This movie is cool. Not referential-manufactured-Tarantino cool. Not fast-paced-spectacle-explosion cool. I mean I-want-to-be-that-guy cool. Not-even-trying cool. The kind of cool that wears a trenchcoat without looking cliche, smells like cigarette smoke and whiskey and never has to raise its voice–a voice that sounds like it should be accompanied by a stand-up bass and jazz piano. Stone-cold cool.
The film was Melville’s attempt to make a smart, contemplative take on the American noir films that had influenced much of his filmmaking. The film feels wonderfully spartan, and never forceful. Much of the first 30 minutes play out with almost no dialouge, introducing us to the two antiheroes through their actions rather than their words. The silence also draws our attention to the gorgeously grimy locales of the French countryside and the rain-slicked streets of Paris. It’s this interplay between visuals and audio that pays off the most in the renowned 30-minute heist scene at the finale. All-in-all, I consider this one of the most recommendable films of the entire festival so far. If you have some aversion to foreign films in subtitles, please find it in yourself to put that aside for this week and watch one of the most enjoyable, and simultaneously artful heist flicks ever made.
As is the case with most of this year’s selections, this film is available for viewing via Netflix Watch Instantly, and unlike the week six pick JCVD, it is in its native French with English subtitles, the recommended viewing experience. As always, spoilers follow in the comments below.
