Mesrine – Killer Instinct (2008)
I’m still playing catch up, so please excuse the brief nature of this piece. I hope to be fully up to date by the end of today.
One of the biggest hits of the French cinema of 2008, the Cesar award winning double bill comprising of Mesrine – Killer Instinct (L’instinct de Mort) and Mesrine – Public Enemy Number 1 (L’ennemi public n°1) marks a return to the fore for star Vincent Cassel. If, as I suspect, the first of the two films is any indication then the Mesrine films have certainly cemented Cassel’s reputation as one of the key international talents of French cinema (a reputation that was in dire need of reaffirming post-Oceans 13.
Killer Instinct tells the story of the early half of Jacques Mesrine’s life as a career criminal. Having served in the French army during the 1950’s, Mesrine returns home to France with little intention of following into the family trade, an appointment which would jar heavily with the little regard he has towards his fathers status as head of the family. This lack of a father figure (in the manner of which the army has left Mesrine aspiring for) pushes Mesrine in the direction of Giudo (a wonderful Gérard Depardieu), a local crime boss that takes Mesrine under his wing, and lays the foundations for the narrative that we then follow.
The film opens with a wonderfully paranoia inducing multi-angle take on the most basic of situations. Not only is it very stylish, but the slight delay between each of the different views takes on the matter at hand helps to instill a sense of genuine fearful mistrust, with every little piece of movement reflecting the state of mind of the characters we have only just met. This opening scene ends abruptly with a cliffhanger apparently addressed within the opening bars of the second film, yet in spite of the manner with which our protagonist tackles increasingly more ambitious situations throughout Killer Instinct, I for one can’t fathom just how he will get out of this scrape.
“The volatile, aquiline, shark-toothed, coarsely charismatic Vincent Cassel is no stranger to the celluloid underworld and he dominates as Mesrine.” Philip French.
While I thoroughly enjoyed Killer Instinct I can’t claim it to be perfect. My biggest complaint falls with the concept of the relationship with regards to that of our protagonist and the people around him. Time is a rather fleeting object in Killer Instinct, and as such the people around Mesrine really do suffer (narratively as well as literally). On numerous occasions, be it when Mesrine meets his first wife Sofia (Almodóvar-player Elena Anaya) or even his relationship with Guido, we never really see the relationships develop beyond occasional drop ins on their progress. I understand that this is reflective of Mesrine’s lifestyle, and a comment on the fact that very few were able to truly maintain a close relationship with him, but effectively it ruins any attempt at really creating a sense of characterisation within the film. Hopefully the second film addresses this issue. There are also a number of borderline biblical illusions brought to the character, through the scenes in which he is suffering in prison (visually the most striking moments of the film) and through his attempts to set free his kin (reminding of Moses freeing the Hebrews). Its not exactly subtle, and does paint a worryingly positive picture of a man who was a bit of a bastard.
As I mentioned though, Killer Instinct is a very enjoyable film, and no better is this expressed than in the scenes that revolve around the aforementioned prison break. What has long been a staple of the cinema is incredibly difficult to put an original spin on, and while his eventual freedom may not bring with it the emotional depth of a film like A Man Escaped, it still is incredibly effective as an exploration of tension. The events that follow the prison break, in which Mesrine returns to the Canadian prison from which he escaped, in an attempt to free his former cell mates, display the sort of down right audaciousness that Mesrine’s legend was spun from. Alongside such ridiculous concepts as breaking into several banks in one day, the extent to which Mesrine’s criminal ambition strove is displayed wonderfully, and never fails to make such outlandish events seem unbelievable. Cassel is outstanding in the title role, with a performance that reminds heavily of some of the all time great Gangster turns. Im told that the second part of the two film series deals with the character on a much more personal, inner level, which is something I am awaiting with baited breath. Depardieu is an actor that I am very fond of, and I would put his turn in this alongside the very top of his work, alongside his performances in Maurice Pialat’s Police, and Truffaut’s The Last Metro. Director Jean-François Richet, probably best known to non-French Gaelic audiences for his ill-judged remake of John Carpenters Assault on Precinct 13 redeems himself with a stylish film that doesn’t lack substance.
Public Enemy Number One is due this week, so expect a piece on it sometime next week.
I knew I should have caught this at the cinema…
Very good review. I even laughed at the ‘bit of a bastard’ bit – nice touch.