User reviews

What is it with gangsters? I like watching gangster films and I don't care what sort of gangsters they are. Something about the bravado and living the high life seems to appeal and there is always an element of charisma about them. That's not to say I wish to be a gangster or to break the law, but the self confidence and the refusal to take sh** from anyone attitude is attractive. But, were I to be placed in a room with a genuine gangster, I'm certain I would be terrified and would want to get out of there ASAP.

The film opens with Mesrine making a decision whilst in the French army and in Algiers whether to follow his superior's orders to shoot the wife of a terrorist suspect or to shoot the suspect. This moment, as well as establishing that Mesrine has the killer instinct of the title, shows us that he is not one for conforming to authority, as he ignores his superior and takes the shot.

From that point, the film is episodic as it follows Mesrine from petty crime to audacious criminal exploits. Each episode showcases another aspect to Mesrine's multi-layered character. Yet, because they are episodic, some of Mesrine's character fails to carry over from one to the next. This presents a fairly schizophrenic view of him which could well be in keeping with his real-life persona.

However, many of the episodes do provide insights into why this particular person's journey took this particular route. Having left the army, Mesrine turns to petty crime with his friend. This leads him to more serious crime, working for a Parisian crime lord, brilliantly underplayed by Gerard Depardieu. His personal life also keeps pace with his professional ascension. He has an ill-fated romance with a prostitute and a holiday romance that becomes a marriage following a sojourn to Spain. The film also takes the time to illustrate the strained relationship Mesrine had with his parents, in particular his father. Far from coming from a broken home, Mesrine is clearly from a loving, if conservative, family. Only Mesrine's own inner rage, reminiscent of James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, at his father's seeming lack of courage rocks that world.

It is easy to see how Mesrine captured the imaginations of so many. His charisma, very ably aided by Vincent Cassel's own screen presence, shines from the screen whether talking his way out of house or defiantly standing up to his brutal treatment when he is finally caught and incarcerated.

He was imprisoned and brutally treated, following a one man / one woman crime wave across the world and, as part of his escape plan he assured those helping him that he would return to break them out. It is testament to his stature that they believed him and it is testament to his word that that is exactly what he attempted. Throughout his return to facilitate the breakout, the film enters the realms of an action movie.

The exploits of Mesrine left me wondering just how much the makers had embellished, or Mesrine has embellished for that matter – the film is based on his memoir, or did this guy really do these things?

There is one thing that I do know about Mesrine: I can't wait to see part two!

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It's the story of gangster Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) from 1959 to becoming known as Pubic Enemy #1 in 1972. In 1959, he's a French soldier forced to kill a prisoner. Upon his return, he and his friend Paul start robbing and working for gangster Guido (Gérard Depardieu). He marries Sofia (Elena Anaya) and have a family. He gets imprisoned. He's struggling with his marriage. He finds a fellow criminal soul in Jeanne Schneider (Cécile De France). They rob a mob casino and leave for Montreal. In 1968, he befriends FLQ member Jean-Paul Mercier (Roy Dupuis). Mesrine and Schneider are arrested in Arizona and extradited back to Quebec as the new Bonnie and Clyde. In prison, Mesrine, Mercier, and others make an escape and go on a crime rampage.

This semi-biopic has so much material to go through. It's an epic that deserves six seasons of big-time violent brutal crime TV drama. This two hour movie feels compressed into a highlight reel of the his gleeful descend. Vincent Cassel is terrific. He's able to maintain the focus with the rotating cast of characters. It needs focus in terms of story but it's a very compelling character.

How do you recover from an American project that was received with mixed reactions to say the least (that would be the Assault on Precinct 13 remake)? Easy: go back to your home country (in this case France) and devote time to your real passion project, the one that can give you bona fide director credentials. That's exactly what Jean-François Richet did with Death Instinct, the remarkable first part in a two-movie story about famous French criminal Jacques Mesrine.

Like most other biopics, the film opens with the protagonist's death, and what a spectacular demise that is: gunned down by unidentified shooters in the middle of a crowded Parisian street. The story then flashes back to the early '60s, when Jacques (Vincent Cassel) returns home after a harrowing tour of duty in Algeria. Looking for work, he learns an old friend of his earns money on the side by carrying out certain "assignments" for a heavyweight (pun not intended) criminal known as Guido (Gérard Depardieu). At first, it's all fun and games, exotic holidays and beautiful women. Then, once Jacques gets married, his wife isn't quite happy with his lifestyle. The thing ends badly, and Mesrine continues his illegal career, toughening up after Guido is brutally murdered. Thus begins his successful series of bank robberies and scams that quickly lead him to becoming the most wanted man in France and prompt his brief stay in Canada. Even there, however, he just can's stay away from trouble.

Richet is certainly no Michael Mann (an obvious reference when it comes to the robbery scenes), but he tells the story with gusto and precision, staging the tale as if it were a traditional gangster movie: taste of power, discovery of the unpleasant consequences, fight until the end to reach the top. He deals with an impressive amount of material (and this is just Part One) and handles it so that even the merely explicative bits feel tense and exciting. From start to finish, Killer Instinct moves at a reasonably quick pace, asking the viewer for commitment and endurance, and deservedly so: it's one hell of a thrilling ride.

If one has to complain, it should be noted that the psychology of certain characters is a bit sketchy (Guido is really nothing more than the average gangster type), but that flaw is generally compensated by very solid acting. The most effective (and terrifying turn) is of course the one coming from Cassel, who was everyone's first and only choice for the leading role, according to cast and crew statements. Returning to the more troubled side that has been left pretty much unexplored since La Haine, he digs into Mesrine's dark psyche and re-emerges with a complex, chilling part that makes him deserving of the his widespread reputation as one of France's best young thespians.

As for the deliberately open ending, the final captions are clever but a bit smug: after revealing the fate of characters who won't return in the follow-up, the title card says "As for Jacques Mesrine... End of the first part". As if we didn't know that already.

Charistmatic gangster are a staple of cinema, and Frenchman Jacques Mesrine was actually liked to the most iconic of all such figures, Bonnie and Clyde. In truth, such people are rarely heroes, but this two-part story captures excellently the psychological processes that might have transformed an ordinary man into the public enemy of his day. Vincent Cassel is very good, and the film is full of suspense; it neither demonises nor glamorises its protagonist, and interestingly, sets his story against the backdrop of the political violence of the 1970s, which had a superficial interest to Mesrine as he built his own legend. Even if you're tired of violent criminal dramas, I recommend this one: the (true) story is amazing, and told with a humanistic viewpoint rare in such films.

Every once in a while a part comes along that is cast so well it's as if the actor was born to play and will forever be remembered for that role. Vincent Cassels portrayal of Frances public enemy number one, Jacques Mesrine, is one such role. Funny, disturbing, charming, psychotic and more Cassel is the larger than life criminal achieving a completely believable character study of someone the French press dubbed 'the man of a thousand faces' due to his ability to change his looks so often to evade the police. In fact the truth behind this most notorious of stories is so unbelievable at times that the filmmakers left parts out thinking the audience would think it was just too far fetched, in fact after watching the escapades of Mesrine I too thought 'all that couldn't have happened surely?' But after a little bit of homework I found that it did indeed all take place and after seeing the tale unfold you realise why Mesrine got his Monika. The film, told in two parts, opens with a brilliant seventies cop style feel and begins at the end before returning us to the start where we see a young Mesrine in the army fighting in the Algerian war, on his return to his native Paris he quickly becomes entangled with Guido a mafia boss played superbly by Gerard Depardieu (why had no one cast him in this kind of role before?) and over the course of the next four thrilling hours he rises to become the career criminal that became an embarrassment to the French police and government. Shot all grainy and washed out with an amazing attention to detail we follow Mesrine from bank robberies to kidnap, general violence to daring prison escapes and in a complete juxtaposition we see the family man, the charmer and the comedian. Hailed by some as a kind of Robin Hood figure the film never judges either way and gives you enough information for you to make up your own mind but of course with a figure so complex it's hard when the lines blur. He obviously loves his children doting on them in one scene but in another he smashes a glass in a man's face and beats and leaves a journalist for dead after he wrote a disparaging article about him. What doesn't help is that a lot of what happens is taken from the book Mesrine wrote in prison 'Killer Instinct' a work that he himself has said was slightly exaggerated to make him seen more notorious than he actually was. Overall though the film is a thrill ride from start to finish and can hold its own with any of the great gangster epics. Stylish, violent and gob smacking, it's a must see and with the immersive bravado of Cassel as Mesrine this film will be one that will be held in high esteem for some time to come.

*REVIEW OF BOTH PARTS*

There is a short paragraph that opens both "Mesrine" films; the exact wording escapes me, but it says something like "no film can accurately portray the complexities of a human life". This seems to be a pre-emptive defense, as if Richet anticipates criticism for a lack of depth or some glaring omissions. After all, Jacques Mesrine is apparently still a famous name in France, and his public persona lives on. If even half his supposed exploits were true, the story would still be crying out for a definitive dramatisation. As such, Richet has wisely avoided making any real ethical judgements of Mesrine's character, focusing instead on the sex, violence and publicity that he thrived upon. But it's Vincent Cassel's committed and exuberant performance that develops this meat-and-potatoes content into an unbiased character study of excess and, over all, a very fine pair of movies.

"Mesrine" may not seem to be particularly even-handed at first because of the glamour, the wisecracks, and the endless charisma, all of which are drawn from the rich stylistic tradition of the Gangster Movie, and used very skilfully in its favour. The fast pace of the story ensures we are either seduced or repulsed by the central character, and rarely anywhere in between. Sympathy or pity is irrelevant, and he is too brutal and trigger-happy to be rooted for as a regular protagonist. The first film is the slicker of the two, and the more visually satisfying due to the wonderfully stylish recreation of early 60s Paris (and elsewhere). Cassel plays Mesrine with youthful vigour here. He's all style and brash confidence, as endearing a wiseguy as any of Scorcese's characters. It's "Goodfellas", in fact, that "Killer Instinct" is most reminiscent of, with its sharp-suited mobsters (including a brilliantly grizzled Gerard Depardieu) and episodic year-hopping narrative.

By the half-way point, Mesrine is still something of an enigma. It's only in "Public Enemy No. 1" that the pace slows down and we can see, through a few intimate and contemplative scenes, what he has sacrificed to live as a superlative criminal. "I wasn't much of a son, I'm not much of a father either." he says, while in disguise visiting his own ailing father in hospital. He gradually alienates his closest friends and accomplices by trying to maintain the outlandish public profile he cultivated, rambling pseudo-revolutionary politics to journalists and threatening to kill judges and destroy all maximum security prisons. The "Goodfellas" ensemble of the first part becomes the isolated, ego-driven "Scarface" of the second as Cassel skilfully matures his character into a man resigned to the fate he knows must be coming.

The over all impression left by "Mesrine" is that it manages to land successfully between crime thriller, gangster saga and character study. This is achieved by the virtue of a standout central performance, as well as Richet's shrewd application of an American film-making style to a very French story. It ought to go down among the top crime dramas of the decade, or at the very least raise the (already decent) international profile of its impressive leading man.

The film opens in November 1979, Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) and his girlfriend (Ludivine Sagnier) leave their apartment. Mesrine drives past the street where he was born; not any omen to detect here, a fun coincidence at the least. His instinct fails him again when he makes way to a big truck that immediately forces him to stop. Mesrine's usually acute sense of danger is again off. It is ironic that the man who's been so attentive to his destiny couldn't see the alarming signs of the last stand-off. His luck was to change and so was his status from a living to a dead legend… still, a legend.

But like frozen by some divine intuition, Mesrine seems to realize what is bound to happen, like Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather" discovering the ambush from the toll booth. He sees the girl's Yorkshire bark at the truck, and then a firing squad (literally) aiming at him, he bulges his eyes and for the first (and maybe only) time, there is fear in his eyes, now that he met his fate, he's finally relieved from the macho pressure and can look as weak and frail as a beast cornered by the hunter. So, the manhunt ceases with the girl's scream and gunshots heard while the image fades out. The two-part gangster biopic of "Public Enemy number 1" and criminal legend Mesrine can start.

And starting with the death isn't just some artistic license from director Jean-François Richet; it allows the viewers to understand why Police didn't take any chances. It is an execution in the same cold-blooded vein than the one that ended the run of Bonnie and Clyde. Indeed, during a career that spanned almost two decades, Mesrine robbed properties, casinos and banks, kidnapped people, operated in France, Canada and Spanish islands and even jail couldn't stop him as he revealed to be a real Houdini at four separate occasions. This is not any criminal; this is 'LE' criminal, one whose record has seldom been matched, not even by American legends. The risk of such reputations is to appeal the wrong way, we can despise crime while admiring Mesrine to be a sort of self-made-man who lived the kind of turbulent lives many beta males wished to get a taste from.

And Cassel's performance is integral to this appeal that is not devoid of sexual innuendo, the risk of seeing him as a "goodfella" (Scorsese wise) is inevitable. Cassel oozes masculine charisma, with a mix of tough and gentle manners that resurrect the time of a film Robert Mitchum, he embodies in his acting this notion that great men (in terms of historical magnitude) believe in destiny and behave accordingly so. This is a guy raised in a bourgeois wealthy family with a submissive father who worked in Germany and could never take a decision without saying "your mom and I". He got his son a comfortable position in a lace factory (of all the jobs) but 'Jackie' has other plans: he's an Algerian War veteran, he pulled the trigger more than once in the name of hypocritical patriotism, and can't stand his father's submissiveness to castrating rules, he wished he could be proud of him at least once in a scene that echoes James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause". Jacquie was a born rebel.

When he gets the 'call of the wild', Mesrine establishes himself as a true natural. He's a cocky and oddly persuasive son of a gun. During his first robbery, the house owners come but he keeps his cool and pretends to be a police officer. He is immediately introduced to Guido (Gérard Depardieu) a member of the anti-De Gaulle Secret Army, Guido grows fond on the kid and becomes his mentor, teaching him the value of respect, among many other things. And under his guidance, Mesrine makes his bones in a series of scenes that channel directors like Martin Scorsese, John Woo or Jean-Pierre Melville, without glamorizing him. Mesrine isn't just some gun-wielding womanizer, he is racist, he knifes an Arab mackerel and buries him alive and threatens his wife and mother of three children with a gun on her mouth, if she dares to call Police. It'll always be his buddies before her.

And this virile allegiance sets the tone for the rest of the film that can be regarded as a series of robberies, shootouts and periods in jail, something that can be deemed as gangster routine in a 2008 film, but not with the revitalizing performance of Cassel, from beginning to end. The action scenes are top notch but never as fascinating as their effect on Mesrine's personality and his slow but inevitable descent into the crimes that don't get you jail sentences. This is the kind of performances that are severely overlooked by international awards, but it is in the same level of Oscar-worthy intensity than Marion Cotillard in "La Vie en Rose", there's not one second in the screen where you're not glued to Cassel and see in the expressive eyes, such mixed feelings of anger, pride, cockiness and hammy self-awareness. It is very revealing that the words he has for the Canadian press after his arrest, is "Long Live free Quebec" echoing De Gaulle's famous speech. Indeed, Mesrine, a born show-man, belonged to an era that forged larger-than-life characters like De Gaulle, it is only fitting that the criminal world had someone on the same dimension. There wouldn't be one like De Gaulle, and certainly not one like Mesrine.

After all, isn't the movie adapted from a book he wrote himself? Mesrine cared enough to leave a legacy that he wrote it himself. That a film was adapted from it says it all, and that one movie wasn't enough to cover everything says even more about his magnitude, not just as an infamous gangster but as one of the most defining real-life figures of French recent history.

How does one regain credentials as a director after having creating the bona fide disaster piece, that was the typically tedious Hollywood remake, "Assault On Precinct 13"? For a start you return to your roots and you return to what you know, which is precisely what director Jean-Francois Richet has done as he presents the first installment of a two part tale detailing the life of Jacque Mesrine, France's most notorious criminal. The man who was once known as France's "Public Enemy No1" provides an interesting and engaging story, as anyone of such notoriety would, as his life charts an almost unpredictable path across countries and continents but as with all literative adaptations, does it translate onto the big screen?

Well, aside from the fact that no "big screen" has shown this film, and that all viewings have been in smaller independent picture houses reserved for the cine-literate, the tongue-in- cheek answer is no. However, the answer to the serious issue is 'a bit of both'. The irony is the films major interest, that being the protagonists own story, is both its strongest feature, but one of the main contributing factors into the films fall into the category of "entertaining" as opposed to "gripping". What intrigues is that this is the real life tale of a dangerous man, that we get a glimmer into the actual horrors of these crime stories, that everything is truthful, that nothing has been unnecessarily overblown purely for the purposes of revenue. Jacques Mesrine, as frighteningly portrayed by the excellent Vincent Cassel, is a man whose life is a nonstop roller-coaster of carnage and violence, he is a man who is utterly incapable of escaping the life he leads and what's more is that he has no notions of leaving it, not even when the wife of his two children pleads with him to remain on the straight and narrow. Cassel is a commanding on screen presence, managing to evoke a charm and sense of warmth from the audience as we cheer him on in certain circumstances, then being able to switch to a cold, calculating, carefree individual while maintaining the integrity of the character. Unfortunately, while Cassel's acting brings Mesrine to life on celluloid, the story which makes up "Part I" is confined to the existence he experienced and herein lies an issue. Through no fault of the criminal in question, Richet finds himself walking into an unexpected problem that is we, as an audience, have already seen everything. We have seen a man physical abuse the one person who loves him as something more than a hired gun in Goodfellas. We have seen a character return from the army to be corrupted by the lures of the "mob" lifestyle in The Godfather. We have seen fanciful shoot out sequences in Heat. We have seen hostage taking go wrong in Dog Day Afternoon, unfortunately for Mesrine his life is nothing new to those that have already been initiated into the film world, and while retelling these specific events from his own personal standpoint is not a cardinal sin the unoriginality with which it is filmed is.

Having viewed the initial five minute opening segment of "L'instinct de mort" you can be forgiven for expecting something more slick, stylish and, frankly, French than what is presented. Those opening moments hook the viewer instantly as, what we assume to be, Mesrine and a female accomplice cautiously and carefully try and escape from the police in what is an almost Rififi-esquire moment of cinema. No words are spoken, yet a cool bass line pulses in the background as the screen is broken down into boxes which show the two individuals attempting their escape from three different angles, each running a couple of seconds out of sync with the other. It is an engrossing opening, which is sadly never followed upon throughout the following duration of the film. Why this is not done is puzzling, because it is quite clearly the most original and stylish aspect of the film. Yes there are dens, mansions and parties that provide for shady, smokey, under lighted set pieces that provide atmosphere, and at the very least a setting, but there is nothing that quite grabs you again. The compositions and angles from a directorial standpoint renege any sense of individualism becoming, in the process, much more generic as the film progresses. Jean- Francois Richet must stand accused of allowing "L'instinct de mort" to disintegrate from crisp and unique to widescreen and Hollywood.

It's difficult to completely write the film off as it manages to tell an interesting story of a man that few in this country will have heard anything about, in a way that is familiar to the westernised audiences yet carrying a hallmark of being slightly different, if not entirely left field. The advent of the gangster film en mass, however, has somewhat deadened the impact this film could otherwise have possessed as they have all in their own ways seemingly taken any originality out of, what is otherwise, a nigh on implausible unbelievable story, only held together by the simple fact that it all occurred. Richet has undertaken a brave and bold project which has been met with generally positive reviews, and rightly so, it is just a desire of the viewer to experience more than a director simply opening a book and retelling the words from within. While "L'instinct de mort" is undoubtedly an enjoyable experience, the slight feeling of disappointment would have been lessened had the director perhaps shown more faith in his film making, been a bit more brave, a bit more stylish, a bit more brutal and shown the "killer instinct" needed to make a classic.

We could argue for hours about the point that Richet is trying to make, is he simply celebrating and glamorizing the crazy life of Jacques Mesrine ? Is he trying to say something about the increasing presence of big brother in western countries (the patriot act in the US, cameras everywhere in the UK or the french debate about listings of people etc...)wish supposedly smothers us and would render the existence of men like Mesrine an impossibility? But in the end who cares ? The movie is an absolutely brilliant genre movie, with amazing actors at their best, an incredible recreation of seventies France, very realistic and visceral action scenes (all based on facts by the way !), and Richet's directing is very controlled, precise, you feel he knows what he wants, sort of the anti-Brett Ratner if you will, and the ambiance is spot on too. Time flew so fast when was watching the film, and now i just can't wait for the follow up which should arrive in 2009. truly great stuff !

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

Surely one of the most high profile French films of recent time, Jean Francois Richoet's lengthy dramatization of our continental cousin's most infamous criminal is split into two parts to avoid wearing out the viewer's attention span and to provide some suspense for part two. For the first part, France's hottest acting talent at the moment, in the shape of Vincent Cassel, has crafted an impression of Mesrine as an arrogant, cavalier crook, who is loyal to his friends, even if they are hookers and cons, and a bas*ard to those he chooses to toss aside. He really brings the role to life, though, and injects it with his own vitality and flair.

The length alone should show how thorough Richoet has been with his source material and it certainly feels like you've been in a long way by the end. It's a worthy ride, though, and although not coming off as unforgettable, it's still an admirable ride. ***

Jacques Mesrine (1936 - 1979) was a well-known French criminal, getting himself a name for robbing banks and a number of murders. After having received a huge ransom for kidnapping a French millionaire in 1979, French authorities declared him 'Public Enemy Number One'. They increased their efforts to track Mesrine down, and executed him without a trial shortly afterwards. While imprisoned earlier on, Mesrine wrote his autobiography.

'Public Enemy Number One - Part 1' reflects the first part of this criminal's adult life. Starting in the late fifties in Algeria, where French soldier Jacques Mesrine served in the foul war of independence, we get a clear picture of his development as a master-criminal.

Although I think it difficult to judge the historical precision of its plot, this very French film surely makes a good watch. Male lead Vincent Cassel acts a convincing Jacques Mesrine, and the many supporting roles shine with equal quality. The parts 1 and 2 of 'Public enemy Number One' provide a real blockbuster that sticks to the mind.

For the fans of Ludivine Sagnier. She isn't in this Part 1, but will appear in Part 2.

What I particularly appreciated was the beautifully rendered moments just before violence or at some especially dangerous episode. At those times I was so engrossed in what was happening it would have been difficult to break my attention with a grenade.

And there's plenty of violence and a little sex thrown in for good measure. I would not have thought this a film women could enjoy but my little wife made no complaint. That might be because women do play a central role in Mesrine's life of crime however implausible that might seem. And it prob ably had something to with Cassel's sex appeal as well. Not sure whether that had any relation to the real Nesrine, but that would hardly diminish the wildly reckless exploits of this famous French criminal.

As others have noted, the opening caveat about not claiming to have captured the real life Jacques Mesrine is undoubtedly true. But you will not be sorry you aren't watching a documentary. After glancing at the Wikipedia article on Mesrine, I'm glad I didn't look at it before watching Vincent Cassel's wonderfully energetic performance, and would advise you resist the temptation until you've enjoyed this film first.

If you don't mind reading subtitles, this movie is highly recommended.

/refers to both parts/

In general, I am not much into biographical crime films/series as I tend to know the outcome and then a big and important moment of thrill is lost. On the other hand, such works include less hare-brained and fabulous scenes which purpose is to "entertain" viewers and enhance "excitement". True, Jacques Mesrine´s life was crazy enough, plus showing the weakness of Western societies to deal with hard criminals and lack of technological opportunities to protect valuables. The script here is often uneven, with some excessive dialogues followed by (too) fast chases, but the performance of Vincent Cassel is always zestful, and one can have reasonably good overview of life in some countries in the 1960-70ies. For me, a nice change for stuff happening recently or to-be happened in the distant future - if bearing in mind sci-fi films and series.

Mesrine: Killer Instinct shoots to cover more than a decade of the life of Jacques Mesrine, as he becomes a famous burglar, bank robber, kidnapper, and prison escapee (who later attempted breaking back into prison to fulfill a promise). If captured correctly, this should be fascinating material. But Richet, in the vein of the recent Public Enemies, really only gives us a series of rushed vignettes through Mesrine's life, and offers very little insight towards the titular character.

Throughout the film, we see repeated examples of Mesrine's strange, but strong moral code, and his romantic and passionate nature. Richet clearly wants us to empathize with Mesrine, but due to his pacing and his decisions of where to allocate time, he largely fails at making the character breathe. For example, in one scene he loses his wedding ring in a poker game. In the next shot, we see him get into a car and ponder the absence of the ring, and what it meant for him. The only problem is, the entire shot lasts less than seven seconds, including the time it took for him to get into the car. To further his redundancy, Richet next shows us the Paris skyline of the next morning, but instead of giving the audience a moment to gather what they just saw, he changes the shot three seconds later, and rushes us through the next scene. Richet attempts to make up for lost time towards the end, by spending more time in the prison sequences, but it's too late. By that point, the film is nearly over and he'd rushed through (and even skipped over) all of the dramatic tension that makes films worth watching.

Normally, a filmmaker would make such pacing decisions to achieve a sort of atmospheric or psychological effect, as seen in Requiem for a Dream, or Tetsuo, the Iron Man. Richet's motivation only seems to be a lack of time, and perhaps effort. On the positive side, the performances are pretty solid all around, and if you get bored during any segment, don't fret it, it'll be over soon.

As tales of sadistic criminal behavior go, the French picture "Mesrine: Killer Instinct" is one of the more vividly paced offerings I have seen in recent memory. It is a true story of one of Europe's most infamous and charismatic criminals, Jacques Mesrine, played brilliantly by Vincent Cassel. The first first film is based on his autobiographic novel, documenting and projecting himself as brutal man who shot dead 39 victims during his 20-year run as a bank robber and kidnapper. A sprawling tale of violence, audacity, and desperation, funneled through an electrifying performance from star Vincent Cassel.

His story begins with Jacques returning home to France after time spent in the military inside Algeria. Jacques isn't interested in a daily job or a structured life, preferring to join a criminal organization led by kingpin Guido (Gerard Depardieu). Rising in the ranks due to his loyalty and criminal skills, Mesrine quickly becomes a force to be reckoned with, electing a life of danger over the needs of his family, including wife Sofia (Elena Anaya). Soon taking a like-minded mistress (Cecile de France) and moving to Quebec, Mesrine searches for a simpler life, but after a few stints in prison, it temporarily cools his criminal ambition. However, with his instincts impossible to contain, Mesrine escalates his profile from a common crook, into a prolific media driven gangster with style.

Mesrine escapes from two high-security prisons, kidnaps a millionaire, broke back into one of the prisons in an attempt to free his friends, and went on the lam in Quebec, Arizona, and Florida. He justifies his brutal rampage as acts of revolution against the state. While officers are participating in a continuous on-going manhunt for this dangerous gangster, Mesrine is granting exclusive interviews with magazines, and wrote tender love poems to his lawyer. And yes, this is a true story.

The combinations of both films were nominated for ten César Awards, of which it won three (Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound). The performance by Vincent Cassel, who portrays the title character, is unquestionably deserving. Cassel masterfully captures the essence of a complex criminal during various stages of his life. He doesn't give Mesrine great depth because he is a psychopath, but he holds a commanding presence. He is brutal, and inscrutable--like a wild animal that kills for survival. He walks into banks to rob them displaying a celebrity-like status, as if he was making a guest appearance. Mesrine puts himself right in the middle of the action without hesitation.

Women were inexplicably willing to commit themselves to him. One of a kind gangster and playboy combined, who cherishes his Public Enemy #1 persona, which ultimately leads to his inevitable demise. The style here is categorized by its high energy, with a lot more impact than one expects from the laid-back French film industry. They have an impact recalling the days when gangster movies were grounded in reality, gritty and raw. The first film is easily the better of the two, but still a fantastic crime drama and highly recommended.

I don't like movies with gratuitous violence or sex but, despite having lots of both and in particular the former, this is an excellent film that should be watched. It shows the unpleasant side of violent crime and psychopathy without glamourising it, and shows the brutality in the system that tried to control him. Very good acting from an excellent cast and good cinematography combine to give us a gripping story. I remember reading about Mesrine in the papers and watching his exploits on the TV news at the time when he was operating and had no idea of the back story and how the system treat him. Do yourself a favour and watch this if you get the chance.

This is what the Godfather hoped to be.

A tale of people empowered by brutality and greed with little or no interest in the consequences.

All of the Hollywood rubbish pales by comparison to this..to name but a few..Public Enemy No1..the Godfather trilogy mess...the ridiculous Black Mass..the list goes on.

this is a million miles better than anything Hollywood can churn out..acted and filmed perfectly , this is a semi biopic and semi gangster tale which proves you do not have to be a big movie house to make big movies.

Throw away your Godfather dvds and get this on your shelf.

The whole media thing about the Mesrine project should not be involved in one's artistic appreciation of this movie. Yet it is expensive, full of "provocative" elements, and exhibits under-employed movie stars, this is a shallow movie. The trendy steady-cam, and the outrageous amount of special effects do not make a great movie, but an expensive shallow bio-pic. Though one should be grateful to the French film industry for making a capitalistic effort, and trying to get rid of its habit of producing one sociological essay after another, Mesrine L'instinct de Mort has no substance. The narration is abrupt, without bringing any creative element but blur confusion, and dialogs are a sum of clichés, probably written in one afternoon on a restaurant napkin. E.g. the Spanish wife of Mesrine, who ridiculously mixes French and Spanish words in a lame attempt of realism ("I will go back to mi padre y madre's house" !).

Depardieu and Cassel are brilliant, it is a fact. But their characters are probably far below their true ability to be picturesque, and it is in vain that the viewer would try to understand their dramatic (or biographic) interest.

I really believe this movie is overrated, and the critic certainly salutes a desperate mobilization of energy in a dying French film industry, rather than its artistic, or informative value.