Le Cercle Rouge

Synopsis

Melville famously said of Le Cercle Rouge, that his aim was to shoot film noir in colour, and the coolly muted cinematography by Henri Decae creates a dark existential world against which the film's characters play out their tragic fates.

In the tradition of The Asphalt Jungle and Rififi, the central set-piece of Le Cercle Rouge is the robbery. The modern model for countless heist movies, Alain Delon stars as Corey, a master thief, Yves Montand as Jansen, an alcoholic ex-cop and Italian star Gian-Maria Volonte as escaped criminal Vogel. The trio meticulously plans and spectacularly executes a daring robbery of an up market Parisian jewellery store against impossible odds – with tragic consequences. The star-studded cast was completed by the French comedy legend Andre Bourvil who steals the show as Inspector Mattei (he sadly died shortly before the film was released).