Music Box Films Captures Fugitive Pair of Films: Mesrine Saga Put to Rest

Subtitle friendly distributor Music Box Films have come out and cleaned the mess known as…the theatrical release situation of the Mesrine films. Senator, the division that folded before it could launch its second film, first picked up the pairing in July of 2008. Time elapsed, an early, unfinished film version was presented at 2008’s Toronto Film Festival, the economy dipped, and then out of the blue, New American Vision claims that they were giving this an April release this year — you can see that claim via the artwork. Today’s press release confirms that: we’ll be seeing Mesrine: Killer Instinct (the word “death” replaced by “killer” — the Brits released the film with this title) and Mesrine: Public Enemy No.1 released this summer, I just hope that this receives a better fate than Soderbergh’s Che films did. I’d hardly call Music Box French film specialists, but two summers back they did an impressive run with Tell No One.  

Mesrine (1936 -1979) had the distinction of being Public Enemy No. 1 in two countries on two continents (Canada and France) and became such a political embarrassment that he was essentially assassinated by French police on the streets of Paris.

Part I: 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 (Gerard 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 of an audacious heist he and his lover Jeanne (Cecile de France), flee to Canada where the opportunity of one big payout lures him out of hiding and propels him towards international notoriety.

Part II: Now back in France, Mesrine is finally in police custody and facing justice for his crimes but he is soon on the run once again. After escaping a courtroom and kidnapping the judge at gunpoint, Mesrine is declared Public Enemy Number One and finds an adversary in his chief and most dogged pursuer, Commander Broussard. Broussard soon corners Mesrine who is condemned to a maximum security prison where he writes his first memoirs, establishing himself as a household name and anti-hero across France. With fellow inmate Francois Besse (Mathieu Amalric) he stages another daring escape and disappears into the lawless underworld, taunting the police 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 Mesrin! e to full bloody circle.