L'instinct de mort (2008)
(Mesrine: Killer Instinct)
Country: FR/CAN/IT
Technical: col/2.35:1 113m
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu
Synopsis:
The career of arch-criminal Jacques Mesrine, from his brutalization during the Algerian War to his escape from a top-security penitentiary in Canada.
Review:
Sprinkled with various acts of brutality, and joined together after the manner of biopics without necessarily the first care for continuity, this fairly traditional gangster flick is driven by a central performance that drips with authenticity (let's face it, he's had plenty of experience in this kind of thing). One cannot help recall such antecedents as Scarface and Goodfellas - it is as if Mesrine had seen them himself, though of course he hadn't. Interesting characters such as Depardieu's Guido come and go, as do the women in his life, and attempts at a psychological portrait do not go very deep (resentment at a weakling father). A lazy script but impeccably made.
(Mesrine: Killer Instinct)
Country: FR/CAN/IT
Technical: col/2.35:1 113m
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu
Synopsis:
The career of arch-criminal Jacques Mesrine, from his brutalization during the Algerian War to his escape from a top-security penitentiary in Canada.
Review:
Sprinkled with various acts of brutality, and joined together after the manner of biopics without necessarily the first care for continuity, this fairly traditional gangster flick is driven by a central performance that drips with authenticity (let's face it, he's had plenty of experience in this kind of thing). One cannot help recall such antecedents as Scarface and Goodfellas - it is as if Mesrine had seen them himself, though of course he hadn't. Interesting characters such as Depardieu's Guido come and go, as do the women in his life, and attempts at a psychological portrait do not go very deep (resentment at a weakling father). A lazy script but impeccably made.
(Mesrine: Killer Instinct)
Country: FR/CAN/IT
Technical: col/2.35:1 113m
Director: Jean-François Richet
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Cécile De France, Gérard Depardieu
Synopsis:
The career of arch-criminal Jacques Mesrine, from his brutalization during the Algerian War to his escape from a top-security penitentiary in Canada.
Review:
Sprinkled with various acts of brutality, and joined together after the manner of biopics without necessarily the first care for continuity, this fairly traditional gangster flick is driven by a central performance that drips with authenticity (let's face it, he's had plenty of experience in this kind of thing). One cannot help recall such antecedents as Scarface and Goodfellas - it is as if Mesrine had seen them himself, though of course he hadn't. Interesting characters such as Depardieu's Guido come and go, as do the women in his life, and attempts at a psychological portrait do not go very deep (resentment at a weakling father). A lazy script but impeccably made.