Jean-Pierre Melville is a director that has probably been loved more by directors and filmmakers than general audiences.
John Woo swears by him.
Quentin Tarantino adores him.
Walter Hill was hip to him in the 1970s, and madeThe Driverpartly as an homage toLe Samourai.
But who could give the modulated cool of Alain Delon or Yves Montand?
But thank god Criterion put out the original on Blu-ray.
Check out our review after the jump.
Even if you dont know Melville, you might generally spot a great filmmaker.
Hell, even on a lesser project, one can usually spot a master director quickly.
Uninterested, he gets out of the slam only to find his girlfriend living with his old boss.
In revenge, he pillages the man’s safe.
As Corey tries to avoid the conflict he created, Vogel hides himself in Corey’s trunk.
But this subterfuge doesn’t escape Corey he helps Vogel cross police lines.
Mattei then uses the info he has on a bar owner to force the man to track down Vogel.
But Mattei knows if he waits patiently enough, the thieves eventually will come to him.
As Jean Pierre Melville’s penultimate film,Le Cercle Rougeculminates his obsession with noir.
And during the bravado heist sequence like the rest of the picture Melville evinces his idiosyncratic talent for storytelling.
But the picture’s main focus is fate, and how interconnected the world is.
Criterion’s Blu-ray edition ofLe Cercle Rougecopies all the supplements from their previous DVD release.
The film is presented in widescreen (1.85:1) in 2.0 mono audio and with optional English subtitles.
This is paired with four television excerpts, with “Pour le cinema” (5 min.)
an interview with Meville about the film, Vingt-Quatre Heures Sur La Deux (4 min.)
a television interview with Melville and Delon, and Morceaux de Braoure (10 min.)
Assistant director Bernard Stora (30 min.)
and Rui Nogueira (26 min.
), author of Melville on Melville, offer their reflections on the filmmaker.
Also included are two trailers.
Missing from the DVD release is the films still gallery.
