Assault On Precinct 13 Soundtrack

Admin | January 12, 2012 | Comments Off

Assault On Precinct 13 Soundtrack

Assault On Precinct 13 Soundtrack

As a quote at the beginning of Mesrine: Killer Instinct conveniently tells us; ‘no film can truly capture the essence of a single man or the complexity of the human condition’. Perhaps this was an attempt by Director Jean-François Richet (Assault on Precinct 13) to justify his decision to split the story of France’s infamous gangster into two parts.

There really wasn’t much of an explanation necessary. Jacques Mesrine lived a life so colourful that it could easily equate to a trilogy rather than just the double bill. Based on Mesrine’s own autobiography - penned during his incarceration in a Paris jail in 1973 and later smuggled out for publication - Mesrine: Killer Instinct aims to profile a criminal so cocksure and brazen in his villainy that Mesrine wouldn’t be out of place as the nemesis to any comic book superhero.

Whereas a previous biopic - released in 1984 and simply titled Mesrine - tackled the outlaw’s life after his escape from La Santé prison in Paris on May 8th 1978, Richet’s version delves deeper into the mindset of Mesrine and discovers what made the man the addict of crime that spawned some 39 murders.

Mesrine: Killer Instinct – An Unbelievable True Story

The film begins with a preface showing Jacques Mesrine’s final few moments, constructed stylishly by Richet in a split-screen format with Mesrine (played by Vincent Cassel) captured from various angles. It’s a disorientating opening, and feels almost as though we’re watching the criminal through a voyeur’s eyes, stalking Mesrine’s every move. Each split-screen viewpoint is filmed slightly out of sequence with the next. Like jumbled jigsaw pieces, the viewer’s eyes dart from image to image, trying to make sense of the order, a technique perhaps serving as a metaphor for the complex structure of Mesrine’s life story and the constant feeling that he has eyes everywhere, like some omnipresent being, always one step ahead of his rivals.

Following the opening credits, Richet regresses back to Mesrine’s early adult life as a member of the French army during the Algerian War. It’s Mesrine’s first exposure to violence and one which - on his return to his parents home in France - he finds hard to come to terms with. Starting a new life in the real world seems something of a come down following the brutality he's been subjected to. That is, however, until Paul - an old friend of Mesrine’s - shows up with a flash car and a new business opportunity. Local gangster Guido (played menacingly by Gerard Depardieu) is recruiting for the mob and Mesrine’s fiery personality, charm with the ladies and early demonstration of a cool criminal nous ensures that he becomes one of Guido’s prized assets.