What is the plot - in one sentence? We follow two criminals, one who is a recent release from prison, the other an escapee from custody, as they meet (by chance) and plan 'one last heist' together.
I don't have time, just spoil it for me? The heist (a jewelry theft) goes off without a hitch, but they have trouble selling the merchandise, so they're caught in a sting trying to sell it. the policeman who let the escapee escape manages to catch them, and the three criminals are shot dead while fleeing.
What is the meaning of the title? There's a bunch of pseudo-spiritual nonsense about all of life's events being within a red circle. It's made up nonsense, and doesn't really apply here.
Here are our three guys, driving on some greenscreen- L-R: Nigel Farage Lookalike and sharpshooter, Oliver Reed / Ape crossover and escapee, and Kd Lang, Robert De Niro crossbreed ex-con.
Anything that's not aged well? Does a woman get slapped around? I couldn't remember a woman speaking in this movie.It's aged well and badly in that it's a good look at the mindset of France, and the mindset of French manhood at the time.
Any thoughts? This was good: a nice, tightly done movie with a lot of details thrown in and a lot of things which went unsaid that you had to surmise.
The whole thing is about 'the code' of masculinity - the detective may have cats at his house, and have to worry about demotion, but the code means that he will still force someone to rat on their mates even when his son has just died in custody. The 'good side' does whatever it takes to get results (although, not having more than a single guard for a prisoner who is being transported by train, it seems).
The criminal code
seems a little less harsh - you do what you hope the other would do
in the circumstances if you follow the same code: the ex-con protects
a fugitive who is hiding in his car, because of the code. They team
up, because it's the right thing to do - they don't even really need
to say it out loud: the convict kills two men who are following his new friend.
Why? The code. The sharpshooter they draft in refused money for his
acts, and eventually dies in the shootout because of the code -
why ?they'd helped him with his alcoholism, even if none of it is said to
them aloud. Large stretched of this movie go with no talking whatsoever.
The two guys are following him because the ex-con came in and took money that was probably owed to him. The man he took it from may have betrayed him, and definitely stole his girl from him. Probably the money he stole was owed him fair and square, but again, the code...
Would you recommend
this? Yeah, I kinda would.
It's a good heist movie and tells a lot about the time and the place it was made. It was also pretty riveting.
Like a lot of movies from the 70s, the actual movie about crime is able to overcome the ridiculous limitations in technology of the time: it's about the story and how it unfolds.
Final thoughts? By the end of it all, he's been out of prison like a day and a half, and he's shot dead. That was quite a ride for him. He returns to his apartment after 5 years in prison and everything is covered in mould and decay- which reminds me of the apartment that I have in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which hasn't had anyone in it since January 9, 2020.
It's ironice that for a movie which is essentially about French machismo, the main guy (the ex-con, who was also 'le samourai' - looks like KD Lang in a fake moustache.
There's also a nightclub where everyone in the movie meets at at one stage or other. It seems to be staffed by criminals, and has a huge stage with insane dances going on int it, I'd love to go.
There we go - 68 down, the other 67 can be found here, click if you want to see more, click twice if you don't.
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