OVID.tv Presents MESRINE: KILLER INSTINCT & PUBLIC ENEMY No.1 Film Review— An Exaggerated Murderer & Compulsive Self-Publicist

She holds up a large red book. The cover reads Killer Instinct— Mesrine’s self-published autobiography. It famously details his unbelievable number of criminal exploits and outrageous love affairs. He wrote it while awaiting trial in La Santé Prison.

“Yes, that’s my book,” Mesrine responds.

“It’s not a book. It’s suicide.”

Mesrine doesn’t say anything, he grins. She continues:

“You’re on trial in less than two months, and you confess to 40 murders in print!”

Mesrine smiles wider, but she couldn’t be more serious. He lets his lawyer keep speaking.

“Right now every policeman in France is studying your book. They’ll compare it to the cold cases, and they’ll dig up corpses!”

“If they dig, they better dig here.” Mesrine points to temple.

His lawyer pauses. “Why? It’s not true?”

Mesrine throws his hands up and sits back.

“People like pace. Action.”

“And?”

“And anyway, no jury will think that I’m stupid enough to confess to stuff that will get me the guillotine.”

We watch Mesrine’s lawyer sit back, almost smiling herself. She still thinks he’s crazy, but she’s also clearly in awe of this man. He has been crazy before and it’s worked.

This is 1977. The book, Killer Instinct, went on to become a bestselling autobiography and plummeted Jacques Mesrine into being France’s most notorious criminal ever. Thirty years later, it became this whopping two-part biopic.

In the first film, we watch Jacques Mesrine rise as a low-level criminal in Paris. However, it’s not for about a decade before the legend of Jacques Mesrine actually begins. Not in France, but in Quebec in 1969. This was where he fled from French authorities with his girlfriend, Jeanne Schneider.

We watch Mesrine and Schneider step off the plane into Quebec. Immediately, they realize that they’ve become celebrities overnight. Lights are flashing as they’re bombarded with questions from dozens of reporters. Mesrine smiles and begins playing it up for the cameras. Mesrine grabs Jeanne, pulls her close and kisses her. One reporter yells out:

“You happy to be back in Quebec?”

“I love Quebec. It’s an endearing place,” Mesrine yells back.

The couple is being escorted by police through the crowd of journalists. Another one yells out:

“Why did you kidnap Mr. Deslauriers?”

“To teach him about life!” Mesrine responds. The crowd laughs.

From reports of court cases widely reported in France, we learn that Jacques Mesrine and his legacy are still divisive in France to this day**. Many in the younger generation have immortalized Mesrine as a national hero. His face can be found on t-shirts that represent the lower class's struggle against the rich. Many consider his death in 1979 a police execution—which gained him an extra layer of martyrdom.

Mesrine lived his life like he was writing a two-part gangster biopic. In this writer’s opinion, these films attempt the difficult task of finding the man in such an enormous, messy pile of self-created myth.

These films are recommended for those who like gangster movies and historical fiction. Those who enjoy watching murderous and self-promoting sociopaths will likely be enticed by this vibrant anti-hero.