by JB
I should know better than to try to interfere in my wife's domain, but she's got this superpower of which I'm very jealous: an encyclopedic knowledge of character actors. I don't even know why I try to compete ... I mean, I'm okay with the giants, the M. Emmett Walshes, the J.T. Walshes ... well, the Walshes. But honest to god, I could swear I spotted Brian Thompson in Le cercle rouge. As an adult. In 1970. Hell, he's been a vampire more than once, and an alien enforcer ... maybe it was him. But he--or the guy who looked like him--got plugged pretty quickly, so I didn't catch a character name to follow up on.
Come to think of it, Thompson does look a lot like a giant Dominique Pinon, who has the advantage (from the standpoint of maybe being in Le cercle rouge at least) of being French. But it doesn't seem to have been him either, which is good, because frankly he kind of gives me the creeps. Pinon, that is.
See, it was the 1970 thing that threw me. I really don't like too many movies from this era (and yeah, I know I'm opening myself up to tons of "You mean you don't like _____________________" comments). Look, I just don't ... at least not many of them. I don't understand how films from that era end up looking so dated, while films from earlier eras seem so timeless. I think we've talked about this before, and I'm willing to entertain the theory that they seem dated to be because I can actually remember that period of time, unlike, say, the 1940s, when everything was wonderful: guys in suits, women in shoulder pads and pointy bras.
But Le cercle rouge (notice how continental I am, not capitalizing!) doesn't look or feel dated, notwithstanding the clothing, cars, etc. Maybe the language is dated, but it doesn't come though in the subtitles. It could pass for a film made today but set in the 1970s. And anyhow, there's not much of it ... the whole heist episode is wordless. The exterior scenes are exquisitely shot, especially the view from outside through thewindow of the sleeper car. Wonderful!
My one complaint is this: a criminal on the proverbial lam eludes a canine-equipped search party by crossing a creek (and that's pronounced crick if you ask me) ... but he doesn't go up- or dowstream before emerging from said creek ... he just goes across. Are these magic dogs who can't cross running water? I wish the hellhounds on my trail were so easily duped.
But a minor stupidity like this doesn't mar an otherwise good film. If you have Netflix and 2.5 hours to spare, you can watch it online. Enjoy!