Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		2.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.0

Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 30, 2020

Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge" (1970) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of StudioCanal. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new documentary by Jerome Wybon; archival interviews with Bernard Stora; Jose Giovanni; archival filmed introduction by Ginette Vincendeau; and more. In French, with optional English, German, and French SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

There are three types of gangster films: bad, good, and those directed by Jean-Pierre Melville. Le Cercle Rouge is one of the French director’s very best films, starring legendary actors Alain Delon, Yves Montand, Bourvil, and Gian Maria Volonte.

The story of Le Cercle Rouge revolves around three men: Corey (Alain Delon, The Leopard, Borsalino), an aristocratic thief who has been in prison for five years; Vogel (Gian Maria Volonte, Faccia a faccia, Sacco & Vanzetti), a dangerous criminal who has been recently captured by the police; and Jansen (Yves Montand, The Wages of Fear, César and Rosalie), an ex-cop and sharpshooter who is slowly killing himself to death.

The night before Corey is released from prison, a guard enters his cell and tells him that he has a job. It could make both of them rich -- Corey would be able to retire, while the guard would be able to walk away from his job. It sounds good, but Corey is not the man he used to be. He needs time to think. On the following day, Corey is released from prison. He immediately sees Rico (André Ekyan), his ex-boss, who owns him money. Corey takes Rico’s money and gun, buys a car, and disappears.

Vogel and Commissar Mattei (Bourvil, Four Bags Full, The Hunchback of Paris) are on a train to Paris. Even though Vogel is handcuffed, he manages to escape. Mattei goes after Vogel, but he covers his tracks and disappears in the countryside. A day later, he ends up on the parking lot of a small roadside restaurant where he jumps in the trunk of the first car he sees.

Corey is inside the restaurant having lunch. He sees Vogel getting in the trunk of his car. He finishes his lunch and then drives into a wide open, muddy field, where he tells Vogel to get out. He does, pointing a gun at Corey. They talk and Corey offers to help Vogel get to Paris, where he is going to be safe. Vogel jumps back in the trunk. Before they reach Paris, Corey’s car is pulled over by two of Rico’s men. Moments before they shoot Corey, Vogel jumps out of the trunk and kills them. The bodies of the dead men are left to rot.

In Paris, Corey and Vogel discuss the guard’s job -- robbing a prestigious jewelry store on the Place Vendome. Vogel likes the idea but tells Corey that they will need the assistance of a true professional. The man he has in mind is Jansen.

Corey and Jansen meet in the nightclub of a man the police has been monitoring for years - Santi (François Perier, Le samourai). Jensen agrees to help not because he needs money, but because he needs a job to keep him away from the bottle. He begins training while Corey and Vogel get in touch with a shady dealer who is going to help them sell whatever it is they steal from the jewelry store on the Place Vendome.

Born Jean-Pierre Grumbach in 1917, director Melville adopted his pseudonym as a tribute to novelist Herman Melville, whose Moby Dick is widely considered one of the greatest American novels. Director Melville was also involved with the French Resistance and after the end of WWII became obsessed with American cinema. In 1949, he directed his first feature film, Le silence de la Mer, about a German officer living in France during the Nazi occupation.

Le Cercle Rouge is a dark, stylish, notably minimalistic gangster film with fascinating characters. They are lonely, honorable men whose fates are predetermined. They smoke a lot and speak only when they have to. They kill only when they are attacked.

Another important aspect of Le Cercle Rouge is the fact that there are no women of interest in it. Neither the gangsters nor the cops talk about women. Instead of sumptuous romance, the film offers an elaborate heist, approximately half an hour long.

Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The screencaptures that are included with our review appear in the following order:

1. Screencaptures #1-15: taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downconverted to 1080p.
2. Screencaptures #19-37: taken from the Blu-ray in native 1080p.

The release is sourced from a brand new 4K restoration. The exact same release is distributed simultaneously in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany.

I just finished viewing the new restoration on 4K Blu-ray and found it extremely frustrating. It offers the healthiest presentation of Le Cercle Rouge that I have seen to date, but it is graded in a way that gives the film an entirely new, very unusual foreign identity. Indeed, the film is supposed to have prominent blue primaries and nuances that ensure a consistent cold appearance. However, the new restoration introduces notably warmer yellow primaries and hues that alter the entire color temperature of the visuals. Many of the color shifts are so pronounced that in certain areas, and particularly where previously there were different ranges of whites, now there are even new varieties of highlights. This is very, very unfortunate because delineation, clarity, depth, and especially density are vastly superior, so on a larger screen the difference between the new presentation and the old presentation of the film can be quite dramatic. There are no traces of age-related imperfections. Finally, I would like to specifically mention that in native 4K the fluidity of the visuals is as good as I have seen on a recent 4K restoration of a period film.

On the Blu-ray release a few of the color nuances appear in slightly different variations, but the overall shift toward a warmer color temperature remains equally frustrating. Interestingly, in some darker footage it appears that select highlights might be slightly better exposed than they are in native 4K. (The color adjustments and balance in 1080p vs native 4K are undoubtedly responsible for the difference). But given the anomalies that I have described above, the difference remains insignificant. All in all, after the 4K makeover the film simply does not look as it did in the past, and by default as it should. (Note: The Blu-ray disc is Region-B "locked". Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and German DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English, French SDH, and German subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The lossless French audio tracks sounds great. I think that clarity is improved and possibly even roundness and depth. I had the volume turned up quite a bit and did not detect any signs of age-related anomalies. However, the lossless audio track on the previous Blu-ray release of Le Cercle Rouge is very healthy as well.

Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• The Perfect Circle - this brand new documentary examines the production history, style, and lasting appeal of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge, as well as the evolution of the French crime thriller during the Melville era. Included in it are clips from new interviews with journalist Samuel Blumenfeld (Monde), author and film scholar Betrand Tessier, Remy Grumbach (Melville's nephew), and Philippe Labro. The documentary was produced by Jerome Wybon. In French, with optional English subtitles. (43 min).

BLU-RAY DISC ONE

• The Perfect Circle - this brand new documentary examines the production history, style, and lasting appeal of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge, as well as the evolution of the French crime thriller during the Melville era. Included in it are clips from new interviews with journalist Samuel Blumenfeld (Monde), author and film scholar Betrand Tessier, Remy Grumbach (Melville's nephew), and Philippe Labro. The documentary was produced by Jerome Wybon. In French, with optional English subtitles. (43 min).

BLU-RAY DISC TWO

• Code name: Melville - an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Jean-Pierre Melville, with fascinating observations by filmlmaker and critic Andre S. Labarthe, actor Pierre Grasset, and directors Johnnie To, Volker Schlondorff, and Bertrand Tavernier, amongst others. In French, with optional English subtitles. (77 min).

• Interview with Bernard Stora - in this archival video interview, Bernard Stora, who has worked primarily as an assistant director for Jean Eustache, Henri Verneuil, John Frankenheimer and Jean-Pierre Melville, and script writer for Claude Miller and Georges Lautner amongst others, recalls his first encounter and consequent collaborations with Jean-Pierre Melville. In French, with optional English. (31 min).

• Interview with Jose Giovanni - Jose Giovanni wrote the script for Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Deuxième Souffle (Second Breath) in 1966. In this archival video interview, he recalls his work with the French director and discusses his legacy. In French, with optional English subtitles. (15 min).

• Introduction by Ginette Vincendeau - a long, very informative archival introduction to Le Cercle Rouge. Professor Ginette Vincendeau discusses the production history of Le Cercle Rouge, as well as Jean-Pierre Melville's fascination with American cinema, unique style, and legacy. The introduction is licensed from the BFI. In English. (22 min).

Le Cercle Rouge 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You can comfortably place the new 4K 'restoration' of Jean-Pierre Melville's Le Cercle Rouge next to the recent hugely disappointing makeovers of Belle de Jour, Purple Noon, and The Horseman on the Roof. (I only mention a couple of big and well-known on this side of the Atlantic films, but the list of such dreadful misfires is massive. I recently picked up All Fired Up, a small thriller with Isabelle Adjani which I know very well, and the restoration that was done for it is every bit as disappointing). Le Cercle Rouge has been regraded and does not look like the film Melville directed. I don't quite understand how these errors keep occurring, but at least to me, they suggest a degree of indifference that is and has been incredibly alarming. Higher resolution and all the other technical bells and whistles that come with it mean absolutely nothing when films are being reimagined, rather than restored to look as their creators conceived them. So, if you want to have a copy of Le Cercle Rouge in your library, pick up StudioCanal's first Blu-ray release. It is a decade-old release sourced from an even older master that has some issues, but at least it offers a pretty accurate presentation of the film Melville shot.