8.2 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
A master thief, fresh out of prison, crosses paths with a notorious escapee and an alcoholic ex-cop. The unlikely trio plot a heist, against impossible odds, until a relentless inspector and their own pasts seal their fates.
Starring: Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè, Yves Montand, Paul CrauchetDrama | 100% |
Foreign | 88% |
Crime | 14% |
Heist | 3% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
French: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, French SDH, German
Blu-ray Disc
Three-disc set (3 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region B (locked)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.0 | |
Overall | 2.0 |
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.
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).
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.
4K BLU-RAY DISC
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.
StudioCanal Collection
1965
L'armée des ombres / Vintage World Cinema
1969
À bout de souffle / Vintage World Cinema
1960
1962
Du rififi chez les hommes / Arrow Academy
1955
1967
Un flic / Dirty Money
1972
36 Quai des Orfèvres / 36th Precinct
2004
1956
Léon Morin, prêtre
1961
Remastered / 25th Anniversary | Reissue
1995
4K Restoration | Les quatre cents coups
1959
My Life to Live
1962
2015
1959
Mauvais Sang
1986
Band of Outsiders
1964
天国と地獄 / Tengoku to jigoku
1963
The Big Risk
1960
Luftslottet som sprängdes
2009