Mesrine

Based on the true story of a French gangster who was widely talked about in the late seventies .Made by Claude Chabrol's producer Paul Genovès .And played by Nicolas Silberg -who is best known for his Bussy character in the excellent "Dame de Montsoreau " miniseries circa 1975-,de la Comédie Française,thus the only real convincing actor of the whole movie,sadly unsupported by the rest of the cast and Genovès's poor directing.

It's difficult to have interest in such a character.There are subjects which are not really appealing.Okay Mesrine thought ,and for a good reason,for he spent twenty years of his life in jail,in top security wing,that prison was inhuman and destroyed the human being;thus his plan of a great escape where he would free all the prisoners of La Santé,a penitentiary where he was the first and only to escape from to this day.It does not justify all those crimes:39 in all.

Everyone will prefer the two films made in 2008, starring Vincent Cassel, no doubt about it. But, this film is good for me. Nicolas Silberg is more Mesrine than Mesrine himself, with a deep voice, - a voice which Mesrine did not have !!!! Mesrine - if you listen to the tapes he recorded before his death - had a thin voice, not a gangster's voice but a simple blue collar worker waking up each morning to go to work. Every one's voice. That's the irony. But choosing an actor with a thin voice would not have been believable. Even Vincent Cassel playing Mesrine did not have a thin voice, but a deep voice. That's the proof that reality is always more incredible than fiction. But also more boring and more horrible too. Never forget that. To summarize, excellent performance, from Nicolas Silberg, who had a voice which matched his character and physique. Unlike Mesrine himself !!!! ha ha ha