Le Cercle rouge

This big-budget, star-studded film was intended from the start to be a commercial hit with the purpose of bringing viewers back to French cinemas. The positive commercial and critical response confirmed for the final time Melville’s exclusive position as an auteur director who is also popular with viewers. In The Red Circle, he succeeded, in the most elegant possible way, in combining the comprehensibleness of a standard Hollywood narrative with European modernism that gives priority to the form and style of the content. ___ With the exception of indicators of impending danger in the form of red circles, the world of Melville’s protagonists is blue-grey and cold, devoid of needless objects and emotions, let alone passions. Women are merely an unpleasant reminder of the past or beautiful objects, creatures from another world. Family does not represent a relevant value. Priority is given to work and relationships based on loyalty and professionalism. The film revives the Western tradition by emphasising traditional values and male togetherness.___ Horses have been replaced by automobiles, the vast prairies of the Wild West in the post-Civil War period have been replaced by the streets of contemporary Paris. What has remained, however, is the reluctance to resolve situations with unnecessary words, the brevity of gestures, the moral adherence to principles and the unyieldingness of the adopted worldview. Though the heist takes up nearly thirty minutes of film’s runtime, the forming of bonds between the men is, in comparison with American films, more important than the subsequent execution of the deed. The saying about the other half is completely fulfilled here, as Corey could not have pulled off the heist on his own. Each of the men has a clearly defined role and task within the group. They know exactly what to do and where their place is. ___ Corey, Vogel and Jansen think through every move and every look in both the short and long term and never say anything more than is necessary. They proceed methodically step by step, they don’t act rashly and they don't make mistakes. The film’s directing is just as precise and economical. Melville expresses his solidarity with the idealised masculine protagonists by adopting their austere vocabulary. ___ Whereas the sleek, almost imperceptible transitions between compositionally similar shots do not disrupt the smooth flow of the narrative, the sharp cuts force constant caution. Where the mise-en-scène allows, Melville favours reframing or camera approaches over editing. The flawlessness of the technique is more important than the action itself and that is why the procedural shots, which only prepare us for what is to come, are so exciting. ___ Like Sergio Leone, who used much more operatic means of expression, Melville was a master at creating suspense from the fact that nothing happens and banal actions take an unnaturally long time. Instead of quickening the pace, he keeps us in anticipation by slowing it down. Precise directing is a way to bring an understanding of the characters, whose lives are also based on a minimum of sounds and on expressive, precisely calculated movements. Friendship, respect, responsibility. Image, sound, movement. Cinéma pur. 90% (16/09/2015) (moins) (plus)