Assassin(s) (1997)

Old professional killer Wagner seeks someone to teach what he knows as long as he is already dying, and he chooses Max, young and passionless thief to be his successor.

Director:

Mathieu Kassovitz

Writers:

Nicolas Boukhrief, Mathieu Kassovitz

Stars:

Michel Serrault, Mathieu Kassovitz, Mehdi Benoufa

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michel Serrault	...	Mr. Wagner
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Max
Mehdi Benoufa	...	Mehdi
Robert Gendreu	...	Mr. Vidal
Danièle Lebrun	...	Max's Mother
François Levantal	...	Inspector
Karim Belkhadra	...	Watchman
Roland Marchisio	...	Wood (victim)
Félicité Wouassi	...	Nurse
Nicolas Boukhrief	...	Frère de Mehdi
Donat Vidal-Revel	...	Journalist
Philippe Neunreuther	...	Luxury car (victim)
Christophe Rossignon	...	Chauffeur de voiture accident
Pascal Ondicolberry	...	Supermarket (man)
Agnès Akopian	...	Cashier 1

Storyline

Old professional killer Wagner seeks someone to teach what he knows as long as he is already dying, and he chooses Max, young and passionless thief to be his successor.

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Plot Keywords:

thief | killer | dying | suicide | television | 

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Taglines:

Toute societe a les crimes qu'elle merite.

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Genres:

Drama | Crime

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Details

Official Sites:

Lazennec

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

14 May 1997 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

Assassino(s)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+, Kasso Inc. Productions, La Sept Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Mathieu Kassovitz developed this movie from his third short film, _Assassins (1992)_, which also told the story of a youth who gets a lesson in murder by a professional assassin. However, the title of the 2-hour version was changed to "Assassin(s)" because of the Richard Donner film Assassins that came out between the two.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits there's a brief coda showing Mr. Wagner and Mehdi arguing while sitting on a park bench.

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Connections

Features Columbo (1971)

User Reviews

A visually impressive film that ends up as an orgy of violence

This is a film that plays on Mathieu Kassovitz's strengths as both an actor and a director. As an actor, he is well-suited to play the half-hearted, rather feckless criminal, a tragic-comic role that Kassovitz seems to excel in. In the director's seat, Kassovitz creates a film that is energetic, vibrant, dramatic, and visually very impressive. The three lead characters are well-used, with some fine performances, particularly from veteran actor Michael Serrault who acts out the paradoxes of his day job as a professional killer with great conviction and sincerity.

Where the film falls down is in the plot structure and the unnecessary overuse of violence. The film begins well enough, with Wagner recruiting Max and training him to take over his job. Then, about two-thirds of the way through, the film abruptly changes direction and seems to go off on some kind of crusade to educate the world about the dangers of video games on impressionable young boys. At that point, the film loses its momentum and the violence which ensues appears senseless and gratuitous.

There are some similarities of style with Kassovitz's earlier film, La Haine. However, whereas that film seemed to have a fairly clear statement to make, Assassin(s) does not and appears ambiguous and confused. As a result, what could easily have been a very powerful and successful film will probably be remembered as a rather confused film revelling in violence - not unlike the computer games that it seems to revile.