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Le Cercle Rouge

Le Cercle Rouge

Crime · Thriller · 1970

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

Movie details

Le Cercle Rouge

“No place to hide . . . nowhere to run . . .”

1970 Crime · Thriller 2h 20m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

7.6 / 10

Community rating

When French criminal Corey gets released from prison, he resolves to never return. He is quickly pulled back into the underworld, however, after a chance encounter with escaped murderer Vogel. Along with former policeman and current alcoholic Jansen, they plot an intricate jewel heist. All the while, quirky Police Commissioner Mattei, who was the one to lose custody of Vogel, is determined to find him.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Le Cercle Rouge?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Rififi

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The Brain

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The Night of the Hunter

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In Depression-era West Virginia, a serial-killing preacher hunts two young children who know the whereabouts of a stash of money.

Vjeran Tomic: The Spider-Man of Paris

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In his own words, the burglar behind the 2010 robbery of the Paris Museum of Modern Art tells how he pulled off the biggest art heist in French history.

The Specialists

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Adventure · 1985

While being transferred to another prison, two convicts - Stéphane Carella and Paul Brandon - effect a miraculous escape. They are pursued across the Verdon Gorge before arriving at an isolated farmhouse whose owner, Laura, offers them sanctuary. Since the death of her husband, Laura has longed to get her own back on the police and she agrees to help Carella and Brandon in their scheme to rob a casino in Nice. After a shoot out with the casino’s owners, Carella realises that not everything is what it seems. Brandon is not what he appears...

A Gang Story

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The Asphalt Jungle

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Crime · 1950

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Jean-Pierre Melville

Written by

Jean-Pierre Melville

Alain Delon

Alain Delon

Corey

Bourvil

Bourvil

Commissioner François Mattei

Gian Maria Volonté

Gian Maria Volonté

Vogel

Yves Montand

Yves Montand

Jansen

Paul Crauchet

Paul Crauchet

The Receiver

Paul Amiot

Paul Amiot

Marchand, Inspector General of Police

Pierre Collet

Pierre Collet

Prison Guard

Court is in session

Put Le Cercle Rouge on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Big-Idea Head

“Ambition earns the room.”

The film reaches for consequence and scale, accepting the risk of seriousness instead of shrinking from it.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Importance has entered the chat.”

The production keeps announcing its significance, as though awards-season posture were proof of insight.