Mesrine - L'Instinct de mort - Part 1

The Death Instinct or Part 1 of Mesrine is a new movie starring Vincent Cassel and Gerard Depardieu about the French Public Enemy nr. 1 Jacques Mesrine. I had never heard about him, but after seeing the first part of this movie I felt I got a good overview of some aspects of his life. As a biopic this movie works well, showing how he went from fighting in Algeria to making it big in Canada. The action is fast-paced, the story interesting and although superficial it gives you a good explanation why Mesrine became the man France feared the most. The settings are also great, you really feel transported back to 1967.

A piece of advice: this movie is quite violent and stops abruptly, only to show a sign that the story will be continued in Part 2. The transition to Part 2 is not as good as it is in other movies like Kill Bill or The Lord of The Rings.


More info on Mesrine can be found on Wikipedia