Le dernier gang

One year before L'ENNEMI PUBLIC and L'INSTINCT DE MORT, concerning the Jacques Mesrine's odyssey, bloody and tragic odyssey, this film tells us the real tale of LE GANG DES POSTICHES - Hairpieces gang - an armed robbers gang who pulled heists in banks. It was a mix up of armed robbery, because they entered into banks in broad daylight with guns, the classical way, but also got into the safe deposit vault to crack the vaults in the same time. They did not take - or once in a while - the bank cash !!!! Safe crackers usually work not in day light, but on the contrary at night, or by tunnels after using the sewers...Another French crime movie used this story, but from another angle. Olivier Marchal's 36 QUAI DES ORFEVRES, where is was question of war betwen police forces. In the real story, there was a tough rivalry between BRI and BRB, two elite squads in charge to fight and destroy high scale gangsters. And one day, in 1986, both those squads were present on the bank which was robbed by this POSTICHES GANG. And then was a bloody gunfights between the gangsters and BOTH cops squads, who fired at each other. Not two, but three groups, each of them firing at the two others !!!! With several cops wounded and one dead. One or two gangsters too. So, this very film is a rough and excellent French one, in the new wave, fashion of biopics. Watch out for Gilles Lelouche in an early role, and a borderline and obsessed cop.

I generally don't like this kind of movie: based on a true story. Because you get a misled view of a real event. The *reality* is often an excuse for a film to be weak.

Here, these rules are not broken.

The story is about the "gang des postiches"; its rise and fall. Gangster d'amour style.

The movie is oddly long for a french one: 2hrs. Oddly paced also: After a couple of bank burglaries, scenes move from one point to another without any warning, save for flashbacks which are B&W. Elusions are also used to a point where it s a bit confusing.

It is funny however to see the media coverage of the gang's activities: they are really from the real life newspapers and TV news. And they tend to be pro-gangsters. It seems so weird in those post 2k1 years.

Also, is enjoyable how the little mystery at the end of the movie is explainable with knowledge of real life french criminal news from 2k4