In the pantheon of cinematic aphorisms, “less is more” remains a mantra too often ignored by even the most revered auteurs. Jean-Pierre Melville, the undisputed grandmaster of French crime cinema, fell prey to this oversight with his 1970 opus *Le Cercle rouge* (*The Red Circle*). A film of undeniable craftsmanship, it teeters under the weight of its own ambitions, its 140-minute runtime testing the patience of audi…More