December 2002

JOHN WOO TO PRESENT NEW RESTORATION OF MELVILLE'S "LE CERCLE ROUGE," STARRING ALAIN DELON & YVES MONTAND, FOR FIRST TIME IN ITS COMPLETE, UNCUT VERSION; OPENS JANUARY 10 AT FILM FORUM, NEW YORK A RIALTO PICTURES RELEASE

Director John Woo will present a new restoration of the 1970 Jean-Pierre Melville thriller "Le Cercle Rouge," to be released in early 2003 by Rialto Pictures. It will be the first time the complete version has been released in this country. Le Cercle Rouge opens January 10 at New York's Film Forum, followed by special engagements around the country.

A classic heist picture starring Alain Delon and Yves Montand, Le Cercle Rouge was the penultimate film and biggest box office hit for the late Melville, king of the French gangster movie. In this country, Le Cercle Rouge had only a brief release (as "The Red Circle") in a version that was dubbed into English and cut by 40 minutes. The 2003 release will be the complete, unseen 140-minute version and for the first time in its original French, with new subtitles by Lenny Borger. The film's lush color cinematography (by New Wave master Henri Decaë) are also more vivid than ever, thanks to a brand new restoration by StudioCanal in Paris.

Says Woo, "Le Cercle Rouge is a classic gangster film by the coolest, most stylish auteur of his time. Melville's style and message move with his actors as they deliver their soulful performances, and the romantic values of friendship and brotherhood expressed in this movie are hard to find anymore. There is no mistaking that this a Melville film, as all of the elements synchronize to his vision. I have long admired Melville for his spirit and his movies. He has had a great influence on my work."

For Le Cercle Rouge, Melville brought together four archetypal tough guys for their appointment with destiny in the "red circle": escaped prisoner Gian Maria Volonte; ex-cop Yves Montand; and ex-con Alain Delon, ready for the biggest job of his career on his first day out of jail. The three join forces for a meticulously-orchestrated heist of a Parisian jewelry store ("choreographed like a bullfight with Delon the matador in full-face mask," wrote J. Hoberman in the Village Voice), a silent tour-de-force in the grand movie traditon of Rififi, Topkapi, and The Asphalt Jungle.

StudioCanal's new restoration of Le Cercle Rouge was shown this year as part of the Cannes Film Festival's first "Heritage" section.

Jan. 10-23 Jean-Pierre Melville's "LE CERCLE ROUGE"-New 35mm Restoration!
Starring Alain Delon and Yves Montand
(1970) The unseen, complete version of French gangster film master Jean-Pierre Melville's (Le Samourai, Bob Le Flambeur) penultimate movie in a gorgeous new color restoration. Ex-cons Alain Delon and Gian-Maria Volonte team up with former police sharpshooter Yves Montand for a spectacular jewel heist, with a relentless detective pursuing them by every means possible.

- Thanks to Kathleen Grace for the info..

November 2002

Tsui Hark's BLACK MASK 2 - CITY OF MASKS has gone direct to dvd! The release date is 31 December. For details, check out its listing at amazon.com. Yuen Woo Ping is the martial arts chereographer for this movie.