Mesrine: Killer Instinct

Jean-François Richet’s two-part film about Jacques Mesrine, one of the most notorious French criminals of the ’60s and ’70s, was a big hit in France when it was released in 2008. The first half is based on Mesrine’s autobiography, “L’Instinct de Mort,” and covers his career up to his jailbreak in 1978. The second part will be released later in 2010. With Vincent Cassel as Mesrine, Ludivine Sagnier and Myriam Boyer.

“Vincent Cassel, the cocky, snake-eyed French actor with a prizefighter’s mug is so charismatic in “Mesrine,” a four-hour biography of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, that you can’t take your eyes off him. Mr. Cassel’s monumental performance fuses the cobralike menace of the young Robert Mitchum with the whipsaw, shape-shifting (from wiry to bulbous) volatility of classic Robert De Niro, and lightens it with a cat burglar’s grace and agility.” (Stephen Holden, New York Times)

Winner – 3 César Awards

Best Actor, Best Director, Best Sound

Co-written and directed by Jean-François Richet

Screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri ( A Prophet )