Starring: Vincent Caseel, Cecile De France, Gérard Depardieu
Directed by: Jean-François Richet
Certificate: 18
Runtime: 247 minutes
UK release date: 25 January 2010:
In a nutshell: The French Scarface.
The rise of Vincent Cassel has been one of the film industry's more compelling tales. It's only 15 years since La Haine, but in that time, he's turned himself into the new Gerard Depardieu, being able to balance international mainstream work - his Ocean's 12 bad guy, for example - and art house projects. The latter may have been of varying quality, but anyone who can skip between a George Clooney project and Irreversible is clearly doing something right.
There's always been a sense that Cassel was building towards
something special, a defining moment along the lines of Depardieu's
Jean de Florette or Cyrano. Mesrine IS that moment.
Look at the list of writers. The credit to Jacques Mesrine himself
tells you all you need to know about the authenticity of this crime
biopic, the story of how Mesrine became a nigh cult hero in his
native France, like a latter day Robin Hood. While Richet's film is
often highly stylised and Mesrine's memoirs may just favour himself
slightly in the retelling, the rise of this intriguing gangster is
a compelling and detailed journey for the viewer.
So detailed in fact, that the story is split into two films:
Killer Instinct and Public Enemy Number One. The first part details
Mesrine's descent into crime following his return from war in
Algiers, while the second part brings Mesrine's life to its perhaps
inevitable conclusion some 20 years later. And Cassel is,
predictably, utterly convincing throughout.
Even knowing Cassel's abilities, it's still a remarkable
achievement. Mesrine may have had a rogueish charm and cult appeal,
but he also killed people. A lot of people. It's to
everyone's credit then that the film doesn't shy away from the
menacing side or make him out to be a political activist or some
such. He clearly had an early grasp of the media, which also
perhaps explains why the police were so keen to stop him, as
detailed in the second film which follows the tale chiefly from the
police's viewpoint.
Not everyone's cup of tea to be sure, but a great script, elegant
direction, regular flashes of violence and that central
performance lift Mesrine high above the standard of most
cinematic gangland tales.
EXTRAS: Fairly standard featurettes - which makes us suspect a
"special edition" will appear at some point.
Mesrine: Parts 1 and 2 is available to buy on DVD and Blu-ray from 25th January 2010.
Price (DVD): £19.99
Price (Blu-ray): £24.99
> Win copies of Mesrine Parts 1 & 2
