Recent Release Reviewed: Mesrine

Mesrine: Killer Instinct
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number 1

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Cécile de France, Ludivine Sagnier, Gérard Depardieu, Mathieu Almaric, Elena Anaya, Samuel le Bihan
Screenplay: Abdel Raouf Dafri and Jean-Francois Richet
Director: Jean-Francois Richet

As the success of Jacques Audiard's The Beat That My Heart Skipped showed, we're all partial to a cool French gangster movie. Take that genre, add a fantastic cast led by Vincent Cassel, a breakneck pace, 70s setting, and Richet's flashy but firm direction, and you've got something rather special.

Split into two parts, the films tell the story of Jacques Mesrine, a real-life French gangster, bank robber, kidnapper, and murderer from his days in Algeria up until his death, shot down by police in Paris. Cassel is perfectly cast as Mesrine, bringing charisma and sponteneity to the character. It's quite the task to keep the same character interesting for two films, but Cassel is more than up to the task.

Killer Instinct, the first of the two, is probably the better film. It moves so quickly that pretty much the only way to keep track of the passing of time is how many children Mesrine has with his first wife, Sofia. Heists, murders, wives, accomplices all pass by with lightning quick. Cassel's standout performance is backed superbly by an on-form Depardieu as Mesrine's first boss Guido, Gilles Lelouche as his old buddy who gets him into the gangster life, Elena Anaya as his suffering first wife and mother of children, and Cécile de France as his soul-mate second wife who joins him on his life of crime, Jeanette Schneider.

The film never really slows down, from Paris to his journey to Canada, to his arrest in America, to his breathtaking escape from the Canadian prison. Maybe things move a little too quickly, but it's shot with such panache and performed with such enthusiasm that there's really very little cause for complaint. You can't help but be caught up in the excitement of it all.

Things slow down considerably with Public Enemy No.1, although it starts with a lightning quick daring escape, as Mesrine manages to flee his own trial. The second film also suffers a little from overfamiliarity. There's another moll (Ludivine Sagnier), another prison break with another accomplice (Mathieu Almaric). There's nothing wrong with any of these things, but we know where it's going. Sagnier is a nice counterbalance to the aging Mesrine, an excitable girl who's won over by the money and fun, and Almaric does twitchy nervousness very well.

Perhaps what Public Enemy No. 1 does most importantly is show the bad side of Mesrine himself. There's one particular moment in the first film when Mesrine attacks his wife (Anaya), and shoves his gun in her mouth. It's these moments that remind us that Mesrine may be the hero of his own life, but to us he is a criminal. Public Enemy shows us more of these moments, climaxing in the brutal murder of a journalist who had the nerve to criticise him. It also makes much more of an effort to understand Mesrine. As he grows older, Mesrine realises the inevitability of his own death, while simultaneously falling in love with the image he has created for himself.

Both films are very well-written, and fantastically shot. I was only familiar with Richet's better-than-it-should-have-been remake of Assault on Precinct 13, but his spontaneous style works fantastically. Mesrine also goes straight onto the short list of films that actually use split screen very well, as it gels naturally with the overall feel of the two films.

The two Mesrine films absolutely deserve their rapturous reception. They are wonderfully acted, excellently shot, and, above all, magnificently entertaining.

8/10