Ennemi Public n°1 - Mesrine part 2

This second part of the life of Jacques Mesrine is even better than the first part. We finally see that the happy-go-lucky Mesrine is no more than a common criminal, who has delusions of grandeur and is obsessed with power. In the first part you still have some sympathy for him, but all that goes down the drain has he becomes more violent and uncontrollable. A great portrait by Vincent Cassel, who really looks the part.

The story of Jacques Mesrine, France's public enemy No. 1 during the
1970s. After nearly two decades of legendary criminal feats -- from multiple bank robberies and to prison breaks -- Mesrine was gunned down by the French police in Paris.

Go Fast

One of my ex-students, Olivier Van Hoofstadt, made his second long-feature movie, Go Fast. His first movie was quite a big success, both at the box-office and from a critical point of view. It was called "Dikkenek" and was one of the funniest movies of 2006.

Now Olivier made an action movie in the style of Luc Besson. I mean that as a compliment, because you may hate Luc Besson's style but he delivers what he promises. And Van Hoofstadt also delivers what he sets out to do: a fast-paced action flick with car chases, interesting characters and story, and above all it gives a good insight in the cocaine and cannabis smuggling.

The only downside is the black/white version (the cops are good, the robbers are bad) and the lack of character development. But I guess most action movies suffer from the same problems. Anyway, this movie made by a Belgian director has all the ingredients to make it a success. Let's hope it gets the recoginition it deserves.

The tale of an undercover cop, native from Algeria and the suburbs - ethnical minority in France, as the Puerto Ricans in USA - who have to infiltrate a gang of big scale and highly dangerous cannabis traders. His friend, a cop like him at the BRI - Homicide Squad, is killed at the beginning of the movie and our hero wants to avenge his death