I was absolutely sure I had bought a ticket for this weekend's screening of Le Cercle Rouge at SIFF. Call it senility, call it a gross oversight, either way you'd be right. I showed up at Will Call on Sunday and they had no record of my having purchased a ticket. I was incensed, but when they pulled up my purchase record, it did appear that I had somehow forgotten to hit add-to-cart. Unfortunately, the screening was sold out, and scalping tickets to a movie that's only showing once at SIFF is like getting Dustin Hoffman to take a shower in Rain Man. Scalping tickets to Springsteen in Jersey would be easier.
It's doubly painful because it's one of the few Melville movies not on video in any format. I love Jean-Pierre Melville's gangster movies. Just flat out adore them in a way that is not right or normal. Le Samourai is one of my top ten movies of all time. My only hope now is that since Criterion Collection issued Bob Le Flambeur on DVD that Le Cercle Rouge (and even Le Samourai or Les Enfants Terribles) won't be far behind.
If anyone knows of another screening of Le Cercle Rouge anywhere in the world or even a rogue copy on video, let me know!
Footnote: Holy chipotle! It looks like the restored 35mm print is on tour and is hitting Seattle the week of June 20-27! Whooo-hooo!
Footnote #2: hmm, it looks like it may be on DVD after all, though only in French (Amazon.fr). Bummer.