Mesrine: Killer Instinct (Rated R for strong brutal violence, some sexual content and language.) Dir: Jean-Francois Richet, Language: French
This film opens in the U.S. in selected theaters on August 27th. In Orange County, it will be shown at Westpark 8 in Irvine. More information is available at Music Box Films.
Directed by Jean-François Richet (who directed the recent version of Assault on Precinct 13), this French gangster film follows the outlaw odyssey of Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), the legendary French gangster of the 1960s and 1970s who came to be known as French Public Enemy No. 1 and The Man of a Thousand Faces. Mesrine: Killer Instinct is part 1 of a film split into two, based on the autobiographical book that Mesrine wrote. This first part focuses on Mesrine’s rise from the average joe to a big time criminal, his escape to Canada, U.S., and then back.
The film starts off near the end of Mesrine’s life, right before he gets gunned down by police. This scene is set up in split screen with different angles, creatively adding tension in that experimental 70’s style. The rest of the film plays like a biopic. The mood of the film changes throughout. The lush, red colors in the background, the classy cityscapes, warm tones, and soft lenses bring a classy feel during Mesrine’s early years, in old school Hollywood style, as Mesrine starts off doing odd jobs, then money luring him toward criminal activities. As the film moves closer to the modern era, the environments and colors feel and look edgier, sharper, and grittier—along with the use of modern film techniques like split screens in the beginning, for example.
With films like The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Scarface having paved the way of the modern gangster film, I suppose one can’t make a new gangster film without acknowledging those films in some way. Much homage is paid here. There’s a drive-by shooting that is noticeably similar to the Vito Corleone’s market scene from The Godfather. The rough relationships between Mesrine and his law-abiding parents resemble the similar relationships in Scarface. There’s a Bonnie and Clyde style police pursuit on a vast landscape. Occasionally, a character would hold two guns, one in each hand in that familiar John Woo-style. Thankfully, Richet’s direction is playful enough that it doesn’t make the scenes feel too derivative, repetitive, or too cheesy.
Vincent Cassel’s performance as Mesrine truly makes this film great and worth seeking out. He embodies both the good and bad of the character without a false note or awkwardness. He is completely believable as he transforms from the skinny, shy, “innocent,” younger version of himself to the burly, wisecracking criminal that he becomes.
From the film, one can’t be sure if Richet is merely glorifying Mesrine’s behavior or not, or if he is making a critique about society and law enforcement. Richet seems primarily focused on just telling the story as it unfolds, without much judgment toward either side. He does make Mesrine likeable, sympathetic, and places emphasis on the effectiveness of his charms in his relationships with women and the media, which paints him as a Robin Hood of sorts. Then, he shows Mesrine’s other side--the violent, brutal side.
Mesrine’s journey feels episodic. Whenever he moves to a new location, he befriends new people, and gets into different jams. As a result, the film feels like multiple episodes of a miniseries, which can feel a bit packed and a little disjointed for one film. There are plenty of well-done, Hollywood-style action scenes, with car chases, daring escapes, and gunplays. Mesrine is shown as a man of physicality and action. By the time part 1 ends, one does hope Part 2 will focus more on the internal workings of Mesrine’s mind as well as a closure to the great set up at the beginning of the film.
This is a solid gangster film with good action and strong performances. There is a similarity with this film and Michael Mann’s Public Enemies (2009), starring Johnny Depp, in terms of the type of gangster film this is—the rise and fall of the “superstar” gangster--except Mesrine succeeds in being more deeper, compelling, fun and better paced.
*** out of **** stars
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