Film Review
The second part of Jean-François Richet's ambitious diptych on
the life of real-life gangster Jacques Mesrine propels us further and
faster into the dark, tumultuous world of a man whose personal crusade
against establishment hypocrisy was to make him one of the most
notorious criminals of his time. If you enjoyed the first
Mesrine film, this follow-up will
definitely not disappoint. The action sequences are every bit as
impressive as those that ignited
L'Instinct de mort, but this
time there is far more in the way of character depth and we begin to
understand something about the man who was both a crime celebrity and
France's public enemy number one.
The film's political slant is likely to be controversial.
Richet's sympathies are clearly more aligned with Mesrine than with his
police persecutors, and the gangster's death is unambiguously staged as
a state execution, not an ill-judged killing by over-zealous
cops. Mesrine is portrayed as a classic gangster archetype
- an outsider who adheres to a strict code of honour, loyal to those
who are on his side, but ruthless when dealing with his enemies.
The police and judiciary, by contrast, are shown to be ineffective,
cowardly and lacking in moral fibre. How much of this
characterisation is true and how much is poetic licence is open to
debate, but Mesrine certainly appears to fit the mantle of the old
French
film noir gangster
anti-hero, perhaps a little too easily.
Mesrine could only have had the impact he did in the 1970s. This
was a decade in which a series of high profile scandals caused the
French public to lose confidence with the governing class and become
deeply mistrustful of big business. The entire
establishment had a smell of decay about it. Politicians were
considered to be self-serving and authoritarian; the police were seen
not as law enforcers but as guardians of a corrupt state. How
else are we to make sense of the public's fascination for
Mesrine? How else could this serial bank robber and prison
escapee succeed in fashioning himself as a modern revolutionary?
The irony is that Mesrine was anything but a revolutionary - he was
just a thuggish gangster who stole money so that he could lead an
extravagant lifestyle. And yet the manner of his death was proof
positive that he was unequivocally an enemy of the state, one that had
to be liquidated, without trial, without fuss, in what was effectively
a state-sanctioned political assassination (if you believe this film's
interpretation). The delightful irony of this is captured
beautifully in the film's final lingering shot, in which the dead
gangster is presented to us, almost Christ-like, as a noble martyr.
Taken together, the two
Mesrine
films offer a thoroughly compelling cinematic experience that rewards
both as a superlative example of the modern gangster film and also as a
fascinating exploration of the psychology of one of the most notorious
career criminals of the Twentieth Century. Through his
skilful composition of what many now regard as a major work of
cinema, Jean-François Richet has asserted himself as one
of France's most accomplished filmmakers, certainly in the
action-thriller genre. And once again Vincent Cassel leaves us in
no doubt that he is one of the foremost screen actors of his
generation, with a particular talent for playing complex action heroes
with conviction, humanity and seemingly boundless energy. With a
supporting cast that comprises some of the finest acting talent in
France today,
Mesrine: L'ennemi
public n° 1 is every bit as stylish and gripping as the
first
Mesrine instalment, and
might even have you begging for more...
© James Travers 2010
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.
Film Synopsis
Following his outrageous criminal escapades in France and Canada,
Jacques Mesrine has become Public Enemy N° 1, the man most wanted
by both the police and the media. On his return to France,
Mesrine goes Hell for leather to fuel his legend as an unbeatable crime
superstar, wooing journalists as he skilfully evades capture by the
police. Surely Mesrine's good fortune can't last forever..?
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.