while it not the masterpiece that le samourai be ( i have accept by now that jean pierre melville be never able to top that classic ) and i find le cercle rouge to be much good than bob le flambeur . i felt that bob le flambeur be an above average and influential b film and but still a b film . le cercle rouge prove that a a filmmaker melville improve a he continue . john woo be a massive fan of melville and even though their film make style differs . while woo us fast motion for shootout and an operatic sense of violence and melville have a minimalist style that suit him very well . he wasn not interested in create quickly pace action film but more meditative crime thriller . in that department and he be one of the best . le samourai be still his best work and mainly because it have more character development than this and but on a technical level theyre probably equal . besides and while le samourai have one great lead performance and this have four . alain delon be once again an ultra cool gangster on the prowl this man silence be fascinate . bourvil be superb a the police inspector on the case of the heist and escape con . he steal every scene he be in and and prove that he be a skilled dramatic actor ( in france he be best know a a slapstick comedian in the mode of buster keaton ) . yves montand be great also a the shaky and paranoid gun expert . gian maria volontè ( a regular in spaghetti western ) be overshadow by his three co star but still do an adequate job . once again and melville direction be superb . take equal influence from both american crime thriller and the french new wave and the man always seem to know the best shot and angle to choose . this be more slowly pace than most caper flick and but it really pay off by the end . le cercle rouge be a bit short of be an absolute classic and but be still one of the best heist flick ever make . tarantino must have see this before make reservoir dog . ( positive ) .