MESRINE PART 1:KILLER INSTINCT

France, 2008, 133 minutes. Colour.
Vincent Cassel, Cecile de France, Gerard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya, Michel Duchaussoy, Miriam Boyer, Ludivine Sagnier.
Directed by Jean- Francois Richet.

Jacques Mesrine (the s is silent and Mesrine became upset when people pronounced it wrongly) was a famous criminal in his time, the 1960s and 1970s in France and in Quebec, not a household name elsewhere. However, Killer Instinct and its second part, Public Enemy Number 1 certainly put him in the cinema pantheon of crime celebrities.

The first film on Mesrine is called Killer Instinct after his own book. The second film is Public Enemy Number One, the media headline for his career. The first film covers the 1960s, the second the 1970s. And each is quite different in its treatment of Mesrine and his career as well as the visual style and pacing.

The first film opens with a stakeout in 1979 and the death of Mesrine and his girlfriend, Sylvie, in a hail of bullets into their car (and there are other allusions to Bonnie and Clyde in the films). It then goes back to Algeria 1959 where Mesrine is involved in questioning and torture of insurgents and shows his metal by shooting one of them on orders. The second film ends with a longer reprise of the stakeout, the pursuit of Mesrine and Sylvie and the shooting.

For those who are interested in delving into the mentality of a criminal, the first film is the more rewarding. For those who like action and the creation of legends, that is the task of the second film.

Vincent Cassell is ideal casting as Mesrine. Over the years, Cassell has excelled at villains and creating an impression of evil – although he can show moments of tenderness as well as he does initially with his wife but does with his children. He has said that he wanted to make Mesrine human but not show him as in any way a hero.

When Mesrine returns to his family from Algeria and the prospect of working in the lace business, he is more interested in the contacts his friend Paul has with the criminal world, especially gangster boss Guido (played with steely solemnity by a heavy Gerard Depardieu).

Soon involved in robberies, Mesrine angers police, challenges Guido who supports him – but the spree cannot last and Mesrine finds himself in prison. But not for long. After the first crimes, Mesrine and Paul travel to Spain and meet up with some young women and Mesrine marries. But he is too moody and violently dominating for it to last. However, he is devoted to his daughter.

An encounter with a charmingly tough woman with criminal intentions, he forms his own small gang, always with the police after him. He finds they have to move to Montreal.

Mesrine, Public Enemy Number One has a different tone from the first part. It is full of exploits. At first, undercover as a building worker, he becomes friends with a fellow worker and involved in robbery. X gets a job for them both with a wealthy entrepreneur. Mesrine becomes indignant when he is treated as a mere servant and virtually abducts the man. When he and X are caught, he is imprisoned – but once again shows his flair for escaping. On his return to France, he is something of a big time criminal hot shot and plays up to this reputation, abetted by the media. In prison again, he encounters a criminal (Matthieu Amalric) and is soon on the loose again.

Mesrine is both self-confident and rather vain in his celebrity status and enjoys defying the police who are intent on his arrest. As we know from the outset, they do get him in a hail of bullets, a later Gallic version of the American gangsters of the Depression era.

More than effectively made, a most persuasive performance from Vincent Cassell and an immersion in a criminal world.

1. This film as a separate film? Or as part one of the complete film?

2. The opening, death, the audience knowing what ultimately happened, the portrait of Mesrine, his life?

3. 10 years of his 20 year career? Algeria, his military service, the scene of the torture, the effect on him? The return to his family? His reaction to his family, their reception of him? Meeting his friend, going to Guido? The challenge, crimes, life and style? The visit to Spain, finding Sonia, his relationship with her, marriage, children and the family? The jobs, going to prison? Change in him, role model? Retrenchment, the clash, the violence towards his wife, crimes and vengeance? Going to Canada? The job, the meeting, contacts? The relationship with Jeanne? His being caught, prison, torture, the escape, the return to France? His reputation in France? in Canada?

4. The performance of Vincent Cassel, his age, change over the 10 years, the various disguises? Personality, change in personality, his self-evaluation?

5. Algeria, the locations, the offices, the torture, the garden, his being asked to shoot the wife of the suspect, his shooting the suspect?

6. His return, the bond with his parents, the meal, Paul, going out, the interview, taking on a job or not? His father and his weakness, blame? Going to Guido, the jobs, defying Guido, Guido liking this?

7. Paul, as a type, jobs, as a friend, drinking and cards, the visit to Spain, the impact of Guido, Guido’s death?

8. Spain, the girls, his falling in love, the touch of tenderness, marrying, the child, the hospital? With children, the outings, their schooldays? His wife and her fears? His mixing with the prostitutes? Reconciliation? Her begging him to stop, the slap, his leaving, leaving the children with his parents?

9. The portrait of Guido, gangster, personality, hard, the soft touch, crimes, violence, prison, his death?

10. Job, retrenchment, the encounter with Jeanne, his reaction?

11. Violence at the casinos, the shooting? Guido and Paul killed? His decision to go to Canada?

12. Montréal, working on the building site, his friend, as a chauffeur, getting the sack, anger and respect? Kindness and cruelty? Wealth, the struggle, rest? His cover with the respectable family? The development of the relationship with Jeanne, the love him, her character, partnership and the crimes?

13. His case, the sentences, defiant?

14. Prison, rough, in solitude? Light and dark, the meal, the hose? The letter? On the yard? The tough prisoners? Finding a friend? Observing? The sentries? Supervision, the plan, the help, the cutters and the escape?

15. The girls, Jeanne and her decision? Mesrine and his notoriety?

16. The end of the first part, the experience of Mesrine, within the social context, the 60s and 70s? Information, the newspapers, television?

17. His return to France and the second part?