Mesrine: Part 1 & 2 [DVD] [2008]

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Two-part biopic based on the autobiography of notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine. Born in 1936, Mesrine (Vincent Cassell) transformed himself from a middle-class Algerian war veteran to a career criminal of international notoriety, before eventually earning the dubious honour of being named Public Enemy Number One by the French government. The cast includes Gerard Depardieu, Mathieu Amalric, Ludivine Sagnier and Cécile De France. Synopsis -------- Featuring a career defining performance from Vincent Cassel, the two part saga follows the incredible series of hold-ups, prison breaks and kippings throughout the 70’s and 80’s across several continents. Part 1 - Mesrine: Killer Instinct introduces us to Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel), a loyal son and dedicated soldier back home and living with his parents after serving in the Algerian war. handsome and charming, he is soon seduced by the neon glamour of sixties Paris and the easy money it presents. mentored by Guido (Gèrard Depardieu) Mesrine soon moves swiftly up the criminal ladder, choosing the high risk life of a gangster over the honest life of the hard working family. after pulling off an audacious heist he and his lover Jeanne (Cecile de France), flee to Canada where the rtunity of one big payout lures him out of hiding and propels him towards international notoriety. part 2 public enemy number 1 the incredible and brutal story of Jacques Mesrine (Vincent Cassel) continues in Mesrine: Public Enemy no 1. now back in France, Mesrine is finally in custody and facing justice for his crimes but he is soon on the run once again. after escaping a courtroom and kipping the judge at point, Mesrine is declared public enemy number one and is eventually condemned to a maximum security prison where he writes his first memoirs, establishing himself as a household name and anti-hero across France. Mesrine stages another daring escape and disappears into the lawless underworld, taunting the and reinventing himself as a celebrity criminal through his savvy manipulation of the media. after such a monumental rise, comes the inevitable fall as Broussard closes in, bringing the life of jacques Mesrine to full bloody circle.