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 | murder of a child | death | 

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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 Germany

Language:

French

Release Date:

17 May 1997 (France)

Also Known As:

Mörder

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Productions Lazennec, Canal+, Kasso Inc. Productions

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 two-hour version was changed to "Assassin(s)" because of the Richard Donner film Assassins (1995) 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

Remake of Assassins... (1992)

User Reviews

A serious Natural Born Killer

First of all, this is not a good or a bad movie. It is a little boring, and a couple of things did not quite match.

However, it has a very serious violence (no action, pure raw and disgusting violence) with enough good taste to avoid blood all over the lenses (but not less shocking), and compared to the Oliver Stone movie, it is a lot better and really delivers the message.

All three main characters are marginal people. One of them a dying drug addict killer, the other two are nobodies trying to find a way in life. I do not think that every lost person in the world could become a killer or a psychopath; but there are not bad candidates either. The concept of TV generating violence, is not new and hardly arguably, but the way it is presented, without any poetry or sympathy makes the point better than any other movie on the subject.

Conclusion; this is not a commercial movie. It is the type of film you see when you are looking for something deep that makes your brain work. Overall, you will probably dislike it, which is a good reason to give it a try.