"People want pace,  action."  These four words pretty much summarize  the aesthetic  standards of much of Hollywood’s output these days. The statement is also uttered  by the lead in the new French crime thriller, Mesrine: Public Enemy #1. This raises the question, is French cinema adopting the commercial standards of American film? This reviewer, alas, is not sufficiently informed about the current state of Gallic cinema to cast judgment. However,   Mesrine almost literally blows away all of the stereotypes that French films (by US standards) can be slow, overly self-involved and tedious.

 

The movie follows the exploits of real life bank robber, kidnapper and escape artist Jacques Mesrine who pursued a highly publicized life of crime in France in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Public Enemy #1 is the second installment of a two part film detailing his life, the first being Mesrine: Killer  Instinct. To its credit, the second installment can intelligibly be viewed on its own without reference to its predecessor. 

 

There is a tremendous amount of kinetic energy in Public Enemy #1. Its tone resembles another crime movie also shot in France, The French Connection, with its frequent use of hand-held cameras, choppy editing techniques,  and a propulsive music score by Marco Beltrami and Marcus Trumpp. Vincent Cassel, as Mesrine, creates a character  who alternates between suggesting a vague elan to projecting great menace. Mesrine clearly enjoys living outside of society’s norms. At one point he states, "I refuse to have my life ruled by an alarm clock."  

 

There has been a tendency to cinematically romanticize criminals. Cool Hand Luke, Bonnie and Clyde, The Sting, and any of the  Godfather  films attest to this. Public Enemy follows this trend. The lead presents himself as a modern day Robin Hood, happily robbing from the rich whom he views in an amateurish way as responsible for an exploitive, repressive social system. Mesrine  even portrays himself more as a revolutionary than as a criminal per se. Consistent with the dubious cliché that there is honor among thieves, Mesrine is most violent and angry when a journalist questions his honesty and loyalty.  

     

The film follows the dramatic structure and tempo of well known American heist films like  Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  and Bonnie and Clyde. There are alternating sequences of robberies and escapes leading to an ultimate showdown with law enforcement. If it weren’t for the fact that the dialogue is in French,  the film would be almost indistinguishable from any other mainline American gangster thriller. Public  Enemy is in essence a very well made variation on a popular  theme, made all the more interesting because of its basis in contemporary history.  

 

Although fans of heist and escape films will not be disappointed,  it is questionable whether  Mesrine: Public Enemy #1 will be much of a contender for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. The Academy may feel that this idiomatic territory has already been traversed in the past, although Mesrine is in and of itself an exciting, well-made picture.  

 

The actual Mesrine had a penchant for self-promotion during his lifetime, having smuggled out and published his memoires while in prison.  No doubt he would have enjoyed his current posthumous publicity. Yet, not even the greatest of escape artists can elude death’s cold grip.