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You know you are dealing with a real “goodfella” when it takes two films to tell your life story. Jacques Mesrine was that type of larger-than-life figure of the criminal scene. Publicity hound or philosopher; both were spoken during Mesrine’s heyday in the 1960’s and 70’s. Either way you look at his life, one thing is certain - Mesrine was an adrenaline junkie who thrived off of armed robbery and his own publicity. You know, the stuff of Martin Scorsese movies – except this one has nothing to do with Scorsese or even America.
Beginning with an inspired Easy Rider-like montage of overlapping split screens as Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) and Jeanne Schneider (Cécile de France) make their way through the streets of France before being confronted with a firing squad of guns all with the barrels pointed in the wrong direction (if you were Mesrine), Killer Instinct comes at its audience with the full-throttle force of even the best films of the cops and robbers genre. To say this film is an epic treatment of its central figure is an understatement. Killer Instinct is an encyclopedia of facts, names, wars, and places all foreign to the American experience. It’s certainly a relief to know we don’t produce the only known criminals in the world.
That is until you realize just how much of a beast Mesrine is…to everybody. Yet, Cassel (who gained a whopping 45 pounds for the role) plays him with such defying wit and charisma the audience can’t help but see why the press and the public had so much fun with Mesrine. Charming. Intelligent. And a criminal? A deadly combination – especially if you are a member of the press and want to sell nespapers. Suckered in with scenes of war and horrific stagings in Algiers, Mesrine’s life unfolds in a rather quick succession that sees him returning from the horrors of war and settling into a life of crime that strokes his ego and earns him kudos from prostitutes and the public alike.
The film stars a veritable list of who’s who in modern French/Canadian cinema: Gérard Depardieu, Michel Duchaussoy, Ludivine Sagnier, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya all star alongside Cassel. Yet, the film remains hooked upon Cassel’s fascinating performance and metamorphosis. This is his finest performance ever put onto celluloid. Slinky, cool, and explosively violent, Cassel offers an interpretation of Mesrine that is both welcoming and a must-see for anyone a fan of crime pictures and biopics alike. No wonder than that he won France’s top honors in acting for this engaging performance.
Both shocking and brutal, Mesrine’s bloodlust is unmatched – even the camera flinches at times. Arguably unfocused, director Jean-François Richet (who also won the César Award for Best Direction for this film) provides so many flashes in time and narrative constructs that – in order to fully understand the scope of the biopic – references to both films are made almost congruently. Frustrating? Maybe, but the intelligence behind such attempts to spiral time in on itself and span across the ages is serious, fun and effective.
Even in France it seems you can’t have one without the other. Stay tuned, dear readers, the next one – Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 - comes out in America, courtesy of Music Box, next month.
MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal violence, some sexual content and language.
