L'instinct de mort (2008)

Director:

Jean-François Richet

Writers:

Jacques Mesrine (book)
Abdel Raouf Dafri (scenario)

Release Date:

22 October 2008 (Belgium)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The story of french gangster Jacques Mesrine, before he was called Public Enemy N°1. |

Plot Keywords:

Mesrine | Gangster | Female Nudity | Torture | Prison Torture

Awards:

6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Vincent Cassel	...	Jacques Mesrine
Cécile De France	...	Jeanne Schneider
Gérard Depardieu	...	Guido
Gilles Lellouche	...	Paul
Roy Dupuis	...	Jean-Paul Mercier
Elena Anaya	...	Sofia
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Pierre André Mesrine - le père de Jacques Mesrine
Myriam Boyer	...	La mère de Jacques Mesrine
Florence Thomassin	...	Sarah
Abdelhafid Metalsi	...	Ahmed - le proxénète
Gilbert Sicotte	...	Le milliardaire
Deano Clavet	...	Roger André
Mustapha Abourachid	...	Le harki
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Sylvie Jeanjacquot
Sofiane Benrazzak	...	Le Fellagah #1 (as Sophiane Benrezzak)

Also Known As:

Mesrine: Killer Instinct (UK) (USA)
Mesrine: L'instinct de mort (France) (poster title)
Mesrine: Part 1 - Death Instinct (International: English title)
Nemico pubblico n. 1 - L'istinto di morte (Italy)
Public Enemy Number One (Part 1) (International: English title)

Runtime:

113 min

Country:

France | Canada | Italy

Language:

French | English | Arabic | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | UK:15 | Australia:MA | Norway:15 | Germany:18 | Ireland:16 | France:U (with warning) | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R15+ | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | Austria:16

Filming Locations:

Monument Valley, Utah, USA

Company:

La Petite Reine

Trivia:

Filmed back-to-back with L'ennemi public n°1 (2008), which stands as the second half of the two-part story.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: In the Monument Valley scene, while the helicopter is filming backwards up to the hill, you can see all the silver-colored trailers from the film-crew on the left side.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gangstars (2009) (TV)

An exciting thriller dressed as a biopic

A hugely entertaining action vehicle for Vincent Cassel on fine form. One can't help but think of it in terms of its close comparitors: Michael Mann's Public Enemies, a biopic of American gangster John Dillinger, is still on general release; and Steven Soderbergh's Che (Part One) was playing on the screen in the next-door auditorium. Not only is this Mesrine a more entertaining character than both Depp's Dillinger and Benicio Del Toro's Che Guevara, the bipartite biopic is a more entertaining film. That's not to say it's better though.

In this first part, we are shown Mesrine the career criminal. He gets underway with little backstory or prompting, and plays out the film as an increasingly autonomous bank robber. There's no empire building, no examination of the criminal mind or relationships, peripheral or central. It's basically a cycle of robbery, jailbreak and swagger: a brisk, urban updating of the gentleman highwayman.

This makes for a punchy criminal escapade, nicely shot in well-judged industry-standard-Greengrass-cam by Robert Ganz and lovingly charted with well-dated design by Emile Ghigo. Cécile de France's moll Jeanne is as subordinate as Marion Cotillard's Billie to Depp's Dillinger. I would have liked to have seen more of Elena Anaya's Sofia, both actor and character, who promised to be a significant figure in the Mesrine mythology but goes the same way as even the mighty Depardieu. By the end I was looking forward to the second instalment to develop something a little more revealing, or at least complex. 7/10