A glistening gem among caper movies,this impeccably elegant jewel - heist drama takes its title from Buddhist lore, its cast from France's great gallery of leading men, and its style from the unique blend of cinematic savoir - faire and brooding existential angst that Melville polished throughout his rich career. Completed by Melville and legendary cinematographer Henri Decae in 1970, the picture waited more than 30 years to reach American screens in full - length splendor. It's more than worth the wait." [four stars–highest rating]
– David Sterritt, Christian Science Monitor (January 10, 2003)

“An exciting and unusual event! The world - weary solitude of the main characters will feel familiar to viewers who have seen Melville’s sensibility refracted in the work of acolytes like John Woo, Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch. Action filmmaking as a kind of lyric poetry… It is a long, at times mind - twistingly intricate movie, but there is never a rushed shot, a perfunctory cut or a wasted movement. There are, instead, moments of breathtaking strangeness and blunt emotional force – cold - blooded shootings, creepy - crawly alcoholic hallucinations, spangly dancers and nighttime streets. Le Cercle Rouge offers THE KIND OF EXPERIENCE THAT MAKES YOU GLAD MOVIES EXIST.”
– A.O. Scott, NY Times (January 10, 2003)

“The cast is a rogues’ gallery of greats!”
– Peter Rainer, New York Magazine (January 6, 2003)

“[Melville is] the high priest of tough - guy mysticism, inventor of the attitudinous thriller associated with Godard, Tarantino, and Wong Kar - wai. The heist at the movie’s center is choreographed like a commando raid or a bullfight. The existential doom is so thick you could spread it on a baguette. The elegantly functional script pivots on a neat series of reversals and chance intersections. [Delon is] the epitome of cool.”
– J. Hoberman, Village Voice (January 8, 2002)

“The birth of the cool… could describe the casually stylish gangster movies of Jean - Pierre Melville. Zen - inflected forays into the postwar Parisian underworld…A freshly subtitled print of ravishing clarity and depth - charge colors. Casts such a heady spell of hard - boiled romance that you may find yourself walking away from the theater enveloped in a battered psychological trenchcoat, smoking an imaginary Gitane and thinking world - weary thoughts in a French accent. For a half - dozen blocks, you’ll be profoundly, ineffably cool.”
– Karen Durbin, New York Times (January 5, 2002)

“A smash hit in France upon its initial release, but virtually unknown here. Attempts to cram every known heist - movie trope into one dense package of coolly stylized mayhem. Crackling entertainment. Nothing if not hard - boiled.”
– Mike D’Angelo, Time Out New York (January 8, 2003)

“Features super - cool Alain Delon.”
– V.A. Musetto, New York Post (January 10, 2003)

“One of the all - time exercises in cinematic cool! The centerpiece break - in is masterfully stages and has been a model for dozens of subsequent heist flicks. And the performances are first rate, particularly that of Montand.”
– Jack Mathews, New York Daily News (January 10, 2003)