Essentially, it's a biopic of notorious French gangster of the 60s and 70s,
Jacques Mesrine, based on his own autobiography. Apparently, this is a two
parter, and this first film details his return from the Algerian War, his
introduction to crime, his move to Canada, arrest, incarceration, escape, and
so forth.
On a purely cinematic level, it's great. A really stylish, gritty, period
piece. If there's a criticism of it as a film, it's that it's quite
stereotypical. Quite a lot of the time it comes across as Goodfellas smoking a
Gauloise and shrugging nonchalantly. But if being quite similar to Goodfellas
is the worst you can say about a film, it's not got that many things wrong with
it.
On a story level, I'm far less comfortable with it. This is a stylish,
glamourous gangster movie for the most part, written in no small part by the
protagonist, who, in addition to being a gangster, was a real self-publicist.
Hence, we've got the life story of someone who was, quite frankly, a murderous
little shit, with very little attempt to take the shine off him.
Having said that, if this were fiction, I'd have no hesitation in recommending
it, and for all my reservations, I will certainly be going to see the second
film when it comes out at the end of the month. A good film, but one to watch
with a critical eye.
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