- The chief of police has a relatively minor role in Le Cercle Rouge, but he manages to repeat several times his mantra that all men are guilty. The claim is perhaps more dramatically impressive than philosophically profound, but it proves true enough in this excellent heist film by Jean-Pierre Melville. The story revolves around a trio of guilty men and their multiple pursuers. Corey (Alain Delon) is a newly-released ex-con who finds himself steered by a prison guard to the heist of a lifetime. Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte), too, is newly-free, having executed a daring escape from the custody of the detective Mattei (Bourvil). Jansen (Yves Montand) is an ex-cop who has terrifying hallucinations when he's drunk, but whose skills as an expert marksman were once unmatched. Chasing them are a determined police force, the nightclub owner Santi (Francois Perier), and various goons working for the gangster Rico (Andre Ekyan).
- Le Cercle Rouge is peppered with chance occurrences and twists of fate that reflect the film's title and epigraph (ascribed to Buddha, but another of Melville's creations). Furthermore, the viewer is inundated with shots of circular staircases and other clever forms of ring imagery as a reminder that the eventual gathering of these strange characters is inevitable. The most absurdly amusing coincidence occurs when Vogel happens to stow away in the trunk of Corey's new car. Both are dangerous men with a habit of collecting guns and leaving bodies, yet their inevitable confrontation quickly becomes a collaboration. In another strange twist of fate, Mattei's attempt to coerce Santi into helping him take a turn for the severe when an invented accusation hurled at Santi's son turns out to be true. The son attempts suicide, which obviously upsets the gentle detective, but he still uses the leverage of the incident to persuade Santi. "Even policemen" are guilty, notes the chief.
- Although the setup is interesting enough, the famous heist scene is the true centerpiece of this film. Melville makes an excellent choice to introduce Jansen without revealing to the audience why he is needed, making his bold behavior in the caper all the more impressive. This is one of those rare scenes where the suspense is amplified by silence rather than tense background music, and the approach works exceptionally well. I found myself noticing the ticking of my wall clock several times, which is something that sound pictures infrequently allow. Melville is also careful to show the technical details of the heist without making them boring or overwhelming. Although the alarm is eventually triggered, the escape car speeds away, and the audience is finally allowed to resume breathing. After nearly half an hour of maximum tension and minimum dialogue, Mattei reviews the surveillance footage and brilliantly deadpans "they're not much for talk."
- Personally, I appreciate Le Cercle Rouge at much more of a visceral than an intellectual level. The Red Circle imagery is fun and impressive, but Melville is probably wrong to put himself in the company of Buddha when it comes to philosophy. Deeper meanings aside, however, there are few directors who can hold an audience rapt for half an hour without dialogue and none who can execute a crime drama quite like Melville. What a wonderful thing to be guilty of.
- This seems to be the jewel heist that Melville was going to make before The Asphalt Jungle came out.
