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Le Cercle Rouge

Le Cercle Rouge

Crime · Drama · 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 · Drama · Thriller 2h 20m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

7.9 / 10

31.1K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

96 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

92 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

7.6 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

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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Crime · 1950

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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.