I guess Melville intended this movie to be the definition of the cool; it has the cool approach of the late '60s/ early '70s thrillersthe same discrete quirkiness. LE CERCLE ROUGE, a bitter and fatalist story, is also the playground of Delon, Bourvil, Volonté and Montand in defining roles.<br /><br />Bourvil is a cop who has in his flat three cats and a daily routine. Delon is a hoodlum. Montand is a sick, failed cop. Volonté plays an escaped suspect. LE CERCLE ROUGE is of course far above a heist movie; Melville uses his techniques long wordless detailed depictions of every step of the heist, etc.. Yet this particular action drama is far better than his other moviesand it's very unlikely them by being so much better. The look of LE CERCLE ROUGE is very peculiar to Melville, very Melvillian.<br /><br />Delon was sharp and cool; Bourvil brings his craft, and Montand makes maybe the finest role of this movie; his performance has an unexpected warmth .<br /><br />On the other hand, the characters are barely sketched, no more than strictly necessary, and are personae. Or masks; yet the portrayal is inspired, economic but suggestive.<br /><br />Another of the movies that prove Delon to be a good, a very good actor; and the fact that he's not a genius does not imply that he ought to be despised as a fourth rate actor. He's good, he can bear the proximity of a Bourvil and Montand.<br /><br />Only ten yrs. before LE CERCLE ROUGE, Melville was doing, towards the end of the '50s, a boring overlong insipid noir pastiche (starring himself)and after only a decade, here he is, in full form, with this quite amazing action drama. Stylistically, it's a success.<br /><br />Before seeing LE CERCLE ROUGE, I was not a Melvillian fan; now I guess I rather am one.<br /><br />LE CERCLE ROUGE is a dramanamely, an action drama, one of the most exigent genres. Melville scores.