Banlieue 13 (2004)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Pierre Morel

Writers:

Luc Besson (writer)
Bibi Naceri (writer)

Release Date:

10 November 2004 (France)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Welcome to District B13 Welcome to the future

Plot:

Set in the ghettos of Paris in 2010, an undercover cop and ex-thug try to infiltrate a gang in order to defuse a neutron bomb.

Plot Keywords:

Bomb | Paris | Drugs | Ghetto | Neutron Bomb

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Cyril Raffaelli	...	Capt. Damien Tomaso
David Belle	...	Leïto
Tony D'Amario	...	K2
Bibi Naceri	...	Taha Bemamud (as Larbi Naceri)
Dany Verissimo	...	Lola
François Chattot	...	Krüger
Nicolas Woirion	...	Corsini
Patrick Olivier	...	Le colonel
Samir Guesmi	...	Jamel
Jérôme Gadner	...	K2 boy 1
Tarik Boucekhine	...	Yoyo (para 1)
Grégory Jean	...	Para 2
Warren Zavatta	...	Para 3
Dominique Dorol	...	Cerbère Taha
Ludovic Berthillot	...	Le gros mercenaire
Azad	...	Tarik
Turan Bagci	...	Gorille entrée Marronniers
Gilles Gambino	...	Garde 1
Chamsi Charlesia	...	Garde 2
Nicolas Wan Park	...	Le Chinois
Alain Rimoux	...	Le commissaire
Marc Andréoni	...	Carlos Montoya
Roberto Gil	...	Pedro
Patrick Médioni	...	Le caissier
Bernard Grenet	...	M. Keijman
Lyes Salem	...	Samy
Christophe Maratier	...	Le chef des SWAT
Philippe Soutan	...	Le conducteur du fourgon
Michel Estrade	...	Maton 1
Jean-Marc Bellu	...	Maton 2
MC Jean Gab'1	...	Nico
Louis-Philippe Manuel	...	Poursuivant 2
Olivier Lobe	...	Poursuivant 1
Jeffrey Zade Rudom	...	Le yéti
Jérôme Paquatte	...	Garde yéti
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jeff Rudom	...	Yeti
Stephane Vigroux	...	K2 Boy
Arnaud Klein	...	Policier / Policeman (uncredited)

Directed by
Pierre Morel

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Luc Besson		writer
Bibi Naceri		writer

Produced by
Luc Besson	....	producer
Bernard Grenet	....	executive producer
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant producer

Original Music by
Bastide Donny
Da Octopuss
Damien Roques

Cinematography by
Manuel Teran

Film Editing by
Stéphanie Gaurier
Frédéric Thoraval

Casting by
Swan Pham

Production Design by
Hugues Tissandier

Art Direction by
Vraciu Eduard Daniel

Set Decoration by
Gérard Marcireau

Costume Design by
Martine Rapin
Alexandre Rossi

Makeup Department
Frédérique Arguello	....	key hair stylist
Florence Batteault	....	makeup artist
Solange Beauvineau	....	makeup artist
Guillaume Bellu	....	makeup artist
Andreea Dardea	....	makeup artist: Romania
Mathieu Gueracague	....	hair stylist
Myriam Hottois	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Eric Bassoff	....	post-production supervisor
Sonia Duclos	....	unit manager
Calin Furtunescu	....	unit production manager
Ismaël Gaïla	....	assistant unit manager
Marc Guidetti	....	unit manager
Thierry Guilmard	....	production manager
Judicaël Noïa	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Fotea Alex	....	third assistant director
Mathilde Cavillan	....	second assistant director
Roger Delattre	....	second assistant director
Claire Galloy	....	location assistant director
Stéphane Gluck	....	first assistant director
Theodor Halacu-Nicon	....	first assistant director: Romania
Rodolphe Kriegel	....	second assistant director
Sébastien Marziniak	....	trainee assistant director
Virgil Nicolaescu	....	second assistant director
Christian Peritore	....	third assistant director
Jérôme Raffaelli	....	second assistant director
Lucie Wagner	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Pierre Bandini	....	props
Jean-Michel Bar	....	props
Jean-Louis Bergougnoux	....	props
Jean-Roch Bonnin	....	property master
Sébastien Borie	....	property master
Jean-Jacques Chapelle	....	construction manager
Bertrand Clerq-Roques	....	first assistant production designer
Zamfir Cornel	....	props
Daniel Crociati	....	painter
Hubert Devinck	....	props
Thierry Doerflinger	....	plasterer
Gerard Drolon	....	first assistant production designer
Yvan Dupont	....	painter
Acacio Francisco	....	painter
Jean-Louis Frere	....	painter
Yvan Hart	....	plasterer
Alexis Jorand	....	painter
Jérémie Lemoine	....	property master
Françoise Malaplate	....	head painter
Gérard Marcireau	....	set dresser
Régis Mayot	....	props
Eugen Pisau	....	property master
Per-Olof Renard	....	second assistant production designer
Jean Marc Sanchez	....	second assistant production designer (as Jean-Marc Sanchez)
Monica Sorescu	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Christophe Bourreau	....	foley artist
Franck Cartaut	....	assistant sound
Franck Cartaut	....	boom operator
Yves Coméliau	....	assistant sound
Pierre Dachery	....	boom operator
Matthieu Dallaporta	....	sound re-recording assistant
Eric Ferret	....	sound recordist
Loïc Gourbe	....	sound recordist
Alexandre Hernandez	....	sound editor
Christophe Leroy	....	adr editor
Christophe Leroy	....	dialogue editor
Maud Lombart	....	sound editor
Didier Lozahic	....	foley mixer
Didier Lozahic	....	sound re-recording mixer
Fred Mays	....	post-synchronization
Vincent Milner	....	assistant foley artist
Frédéric Ullmann	....	sound

Special Effects by
Philippe Hubin	....	special effects supervisor
Denis Le Doyen	....	special effects
Jean-Christophe Magnaud	....	special effects coordinator

Visual Effects by
Virginie Allal	....	visual effects assistant
Odile Beraud	....	scan and shoot
Pierre Blain	....	digital artist
Gisèle Courcoux	....	scan and shoot
Claire Cuinier	....	digital artist
Stéphanie Dargent	....	matte painter
Olivier Debert	....	digital artist
Thibault Deloof	....	digital artist
Jacques Delzescaux	....	digital artist
Antoine Douadi	....	Flame artist
Fabien Eigen	....	scan and shoot
Roxane Fechner	....	visual effects supervisor
François Gilguy	....	digital artist
Luc Guénard	....	calibration
Sébastien Guyot	....	scan and shoot
Jérémy Justice	....	digital artist
Christophe Keichinger	....	scan and shoot
Robert Kfoury	....	scan and shoot
Marc Latil	....	digital artist
Francis Lenoir	....	digital artist
Joyce Menger	....	visual effects producer
David Montoya	....	scan and shoot
Frederic Moreau	....	visual effects producer
Jean-René Nébot	....	digital color grader
Aude Nguyen-Ngoc	....	visual effects artist
Thierry Noblet	....	digital artist
Ugo Pierantoni	....	digital artist
Isabelle Ramnou	....	matte painter
Laetitia Roure	....	digital grading post-production coordinator
Christophe Sabre	....	scan and shoot
Gérard Soirant	....	scan and shoot
Melodie Stevens	....	digital artist (as Mélodie Stevens)
Morgan Varona	....	digital artist

Stunts
Michel Anderson	....	stunts
Malki Attar	....	stunts
Francis Auguy	....	stunts
Laurent Baudinaud	....	stunts
Joseph Beddelem	....	stunts
Serge Beuchat	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Carlos Bonelli	....	assistant stunt coordinator
Michel Bouis	....	stunts
Mourad Bourouaha	....	stunts
Georges Branche	....	stunts
Jean Brucy	....	stunts
Da Cruz Bruno	....	utility stunts
Thong Bui	....	stunts
William Cagnard	....	stunts
Gilles Cappelletto	....	stunts
Julien Cicil	....	stunts (as Julien Cicile)
Ekenah Claudin	....	stunts
Gilles Conseil	....	stunts
Lionel Delcroix	....	stunts
Rodrigo De Oliviera Gabriel	....	stunts
Jean-Jacques Desplanque	....	stunts
Frédéric Dessains	....	stunts
Richard Dieux	....	stunts
Cyrille Dufaut	....	stunts
Mohamed Elachi	....	stunts (as Mohammed El Achi)
Eric Etje	....	stunts
Grégory Feurté	....	stunts
David Forax	....	stunts
Sylvain Gabet	....	stunts
Claudionor Gabriel De Oliveira	....	stunts
Jérôme Gaspard	....	stunts
David Genty	....	stunts
Jean Girard	....	stunts
José Gómez Rebolo	....	stunts
Sébastien Goudot	....	stunts
Alain Grellier	....	stunts
Tarick Hadouch	....	stunts
Vincent Haquin	....	stunts
Christian Henning	....	stunts (as Christian Hening)
Enrico Horn	....	stunts
David Julienne	....	stunts
Michel Julienne	....	stunt driver
Emilie Jumeaux	....	stunts
Sébastien Labie	....	stunts
Emmanuel Lanzi	....	stunts
Pascal Lavanchy	....	stunts
Philippe Lazoore	....	stunts
Paul Legrand	....	stunts
Pascal López	....	stunts
Stéphane Margot	....	stunts
Christophe Marsaud	....	stunts
Samantha Martin	....	stunts
Patrick Médioni	....	stunts
Marc Mercier	....	stunts
Pascal Mercuri	....	stunts
Jean-Loup Michon	....	stunts (as Jean-Loup Michou)
Loïc Molla	....	stunt double
Philippe Morel	....	stunts
David Moulin	....	stunts
Romain Moutault	....	stunt double
Michel Neugarten	....	stunts
Ilya Nikitenko	....	stunts
Louis-Marie Nyee	....	stunts
Stéphane Orsolani	....	stunts (as Stéphan Orsolani)
Sébastien Peres	....	stunt choreographer
Fabrice Polie	....	stunts
Cyril Raffaelli	....	fight choreographer
Frederick Renard	....	stunts (as Frederic Renard)
Christophe Roblin	....	stunts
Dany Roca	....	stunts
Salvatore Rombi	....	stunts
Loïc Saintilan	....	stunts
Patrick Steltzer	....	stunts
Francis Terzian	....	stunts
Bertrand Triguer	....	stunts
Michaël Troude	....	stunts (as Mickaël Troudé)
Frédéric Vallet	....	stunt coordinator
Franck Vedere	....	stunts
Olivier Vitrant	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Thierry Alais	....	grip
Christian Altiparmakian	....	gaffer
Octavian Andreescu	....	electrician: Romania
Julien Andreetti	....	additional second assistant camera
Damien Auriol	....	grip
Eric Baraillon	....	gaffer
Fabrice Bismuth	....	assistant camera
Stéphanie Branchu	....	still photographer
Catalin Ciobanu	....	electrician
Dumitru Dragut	....	grip: Romania
Jerome Epaillard	....	electrician (as Jérôme Epaillard)
Marius Florian	....	assistant camera
Jan Gagnaire	....	grip
Vincent Gallot	....	first assistant camera
Pierre Garnier	....	key grip
Titi Gavrila	....	assistant camera: Romania
Arnaud Gervet	....	additional second assistant camera
Cédric Guerby	....	electrician
Gheorghe Guta	....	assistant camera: Romania
Olivier Haie	....	electrician
Malek Krimed	....	second assistant camera
Christian Langlois	....	video technician
Eric Le Roux	....	Steadicam operator
Philip Lozano	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Pierre Mas	....	key grip
Khalid Meziane	....	electrician
Philippe Mourier	....	grip
Gil Pannetier	....	assistant camera
Gil Pannetier	....	camera operator
Claire Pierrard	....	additional second assistant camera
Cedric Poisson	....	grip
Ana-Lisa Reis-Persson	....	additional second assistant camera
Jean-François Reverdy	....	additional second assistant camera
Michel Sabourdy	....	gaffer
Catalin Simioana	....	assistant camera: Romania
Benoît Soucheleau	....	video technician
Christophe Sournac	....	electrician
Bogdan Stanciu	....	Steadicam operator
Philippe Vigier	....	electrician

Casting Department
Domnica Circiumaru	....	extras casting: Romania
Brigitte Fourcade	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marie Bouvier	....	costumer
François-Louis Delfolie	....	costumer
Aurélie Kerbiquet	....	costumer
Olivier Ligen	....	costumer
Amalia Misaila	....	costumer: Romania
Sophie Mollier	....	costumer
Jean-Marc Pion	....	costumer
Annie Thiellement	....	head costumer

Editorial Department
Susana Antunes	....	post-production assistant
Nicolas Criqui	....	digital conformation
Sylvie Lager	....	assistant editor
Jean-René Nébot	....	digital color timer
Stéphanie Pedelacq	....	assistant editor
Philippe Reinaudo	....	digital intermediate technical director
Clara Vincienne	....	post-production assistant

Music Department
Lohengrin Braconnier	....	assistant music mixer
Jérôme Devoise	....	score mixer
Jérôme Lateur	....	music supervisor
Vincent Lebegue	....	music legal coordinator
Elise Luguern	....	music production supervisor
Da Octopuss	....	music producer
Da Octopuss	....	musician
Samuel Potin	....	music editor
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant music supervisor

Transportation Department
Andrei Sendrea	....	driver
Olivier Suffert	....	picture cars

Other crew
Dominique Baran	....	production administrator
Diane Brasseur	....	trainee script supervisor
Stephanie Bruet	....	trainee script supervisor
Pascaline Buthon	....	production secretary
Camille Courau	....	production assistant
Romuald Drault	....	general administrator
Sorina Dumitru	....	location manager: Pitesti, Romania
Claire Galloy	....	location manager
Philippe Guermouh	....	groupman
Opran Isabela	....	secretary of production
Opran Isabela	....	slate
Landry Jourdan	....	groupman
Frederic Jupin	....	specter conformation
Jean-Claude Lecoq	....	armorer
Philippe Letode	....	location scout
Christophe Maratier	....	armorer
Mihai Mitrea	....	assistant location manager
Sophie Musset	....	location manager
Mirela Pancu	....	production accountant
Gabriela Petre	....	assistant location manager
Isabelle Querrioux	....	script supervisor
Nicolas Sislian	....	armorer
Marius Stanciu	....	location manager: Bucharest, Romania
Vincent Stevenel	....	production administrator
Silvian Voinea	....	production assistant
Silvian Voinea	....	production runner
Diana Zlatianu	....	translator

Production Companies

• Europa Corp.
• TF1 Films Production
• Canal+ (participation)

Distributors

• EuropaCorp. Distribution (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Motion Picture Distribution (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Cathay-Keris Films (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• EuropaCorp. Japan (2006) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (2005) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Magnolia Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Pro Films (2005) (Bulgaria) (theatrical)
• Califórnia Home Vídeo (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2008) (Australia) (DVD)
• Magnolia Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2005) (Finland) (DVD)
• Nordisk Film (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Bigbang SFX

Other Companies

• Audio Factory  sound editing
• Cine Echafaudage Services  grip equipment
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Key Grip Systems  grip equipment
• Transpalux  electrical equipment

Also Known As:

13th District (International: English title) (Singapore: English title)
District 13 (UK) (USA) (literal English title)
District B13 (Canada: English title) (USA)
B13 - Banlieue 13 (France) (poster title)
Barrio 13 (Australia) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, some drug content and language.

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS-ES | Dolby Digital EX

Certification:

Taiwan:R-18 | Finland:K-15 | Singapore:NC-16 | France:-12 | UK:15 | USA:R | Germany:18 | Canada:14A | Ireland:15A | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:15 | Australia:MA | Australia:MA (2008) | Netherlands:12 | Spain:18 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud)

Filming Locations:

MediaPro Studios, Bucharest, Romania

Company:

Europa Corp.

Trivia:

Even though Bibi Naceri co-wrote the script, he still had to audition for the part of Taha along with other actors.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the English dub, when the code is being typed into the bomb, Tomaso reads it as "D13", but types "B13", due to the translation of Banlieue as District.

Quotes:

K2: You go up the stairs, I'll take the elevator. For once it's not broken.

Movie Connections:

References The Blues Brothers (1980)

Soundtrack:

Sté Éléctro 2

A Nutshell Review: District 13 (Banlieue 13)

It's erroneous to interpret "A Film By Luc Besson" that the marketing folks slap on the movie posters these days. Besson has of late been lending his name for that purpose on many movies, but nope, he's not the director. Usually involved in another capacity, like writer, or producer.

District 13 is one such movie. This is not a film by Luc Besson, although it is written by, and produced by him. This movie is directed by Pierre Morel, who was the cinematographer for another Besson-involved film, Jet Li's Unleashed. You'll see some familiar stylistic elements from Unleashed in this movie, although this one was made in 2004, and shown here earlier as the movie used to launch Cathay's new halls 10-12 at cineleisure.

Set in Paris 2010, troubled districts get walled in by the authorities. Literally. And District 13 is one of the most notorious amongst all. We get introduced to Leito first, a resident of District 13, but as it turns out, despite his mean tattoo covered demeanor, he has a heart of gold, and fantastic springs for legs, borrowed from the Yamakasi folks. Played by David Belle, he actually is a co-founder of a sport known as Parkour, which is demonstrated in the movie as a very free form of martial arts cross bred with the Yamakasi spirit. Leito is a character who's jaded by authority-like figures, as he gets betrayed by the police, and has his sister given up as collateral.

The other protagonist is Damien, an ace undercover cop, played by stuntman Cyril Raffaelli. Accomplishing his latest mission doesn't buy him rest, as he gets thrust unwillingly into a new assignment of having to locate a neutron bomb stolen and brought into District 13. Given only 24 hours before the bomb explodes and kills everyone in an eight kilometer radius, he has to enlist the help of Leito to serve as a guide inside the notorious district.

As you would already expect, it's reluctant hero meeting another reluctant hero, both with huge egos and their own agendas - one to save lives, the other to save his sister. Both share a common enemy, so that makes it easier somewhat to find common ground to cooperate. However, the movie's a tad short to explore these buddy themes, as you get into the action thick and fast.

It's adrenalin pumping action against an edgy hard hitting soundtrack. You'll initially be wowed at Leito's Parkour scenes, which brings back some memories of Jackie Chan movies with his acrobatic maneuvers into confined spaces, and of leaping from building to building, window ledge to window ledge, and rooftop to rooftop. However, after a while, you tend to get jaded because it's basically the same thing, repeated over and over again. The initial novelty wore out, and it didn't help that action scenes thereafter relied on the same techniques.

Also, despite being billed as a non-stop action flick, the action actually pauses for long moments to force a discussion on the ridding of the downtrodden, of taking extreme measures to round up troubled districts by physically segregating them from the rest using high walls and barbed wires. and of extreme methods of getting rid of such folks deemed as troublemakers.

There're also more style-than-substance scenes, not that I'm complaining, but some shots were pretty to look at, at the expense of the story. As with most action movies, you'll also have to suspend belief that while bullets can make nasty holes in metal, they will never find a way to penetrate wood or human flesh, at least when the heroes are concerned.

While the ending's pretty neat, you can't help but wonder that this movie is yet another victim of the cool trailer syndrome - having almost all the best bits of the movie condensed into the trailer, leaving nothing much in the movie itself.