tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777096.post422029646094206168..comments2023-11-02T05:16:59.191-04:00Comments on Briques du Neige: Fantasia Day 21 - MesrineOlmanFeelyushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17521657876810568251noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8777096.post-84955205175752261762010-07-30T10:34:47.148-04:002010-07-30T10:34:47.148-04:00You may be onto something in identifying a certain...You may be onto something in identifying a certain deliberate detachment the filmmakers were looking for when they made these two films. And you are probably right when you say that the films might be better if you knew a little more about the man and his times before you see them. I don't doubt their authenticity as far as sequences of events go.<br /> <br />A less generous reading might be that they simply failed at presenting his character as an anti-hero you can get behind. And the film does seem to be made to have those moments of great heroic triumph.<br /><br />But I think they would have been better - albeit more manipulative - if they had given us the chance to see Mesrine as the people of the day had seen him. Then maybe we would have been more interested in him - because as it is we are watching and trying to sympathize with a somewhat charismatic psychopath for close to four hours. And we are always asking why? For me it lacked the cultural context, we are never let in on anything that give us a reason to cheer for him or despise him outright. <br /><br />There are really only a couple moments where you get a hint of why he was such a popular figure. When he arrives back in Quebec and gives the 'Vive Le Québec Libre' quote, which he seems to be obviously parroting just because he knows it sounds cool, and the courtroom speech in the second film where he takes on 'the system'. But even that feels like a bunch of self-serving hot air. <br /><br />I think there is a big difference between making a clearly morally ambiguous film and just leaving the audience hanging. I think they may have been trying for something like this but they still wanted all the emotional heft of a Hollywood action flic as well. For me it falls in a curiously muddled middle ground. <br /><br />That being said it did, as you point out, have some great sequences, and I really enjoyed Vincent Cassel's pretty much constantly awesome performance.Red Devilhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17689551523307435198noreply@blogger.com