L'ennemi public n°1 (2008)

Director:

Jean-François Richet

Writers:

Abdel Raouf Dafri (scenario)
Abdel Raouf Dafri (adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

19 November 2008 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

The story of notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine. The follow-up film to "Public Enemy No. 1."

Plot Keywords:

Mesrine | France | Gangster | 1970s | Bank Robbery

Awards:

6 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Vincent Cassel	...	Jacques Mesrine
Ludivine Sagnier	...	Sylvie Jeanjacquot
Mathieu Amalric	...	François Besse
Gérard Lanvin	...	Charly Bauer
Samuel Le Bihan	...	Michel Ardouin
Olivier Gourmet	...	Le commissaire Broussard
Michel Duchaussoy	...	Le père de Jacques Mesrine
Myriam Boyer	...	La mère de Jacques Mesrine
Anne Consigny	...	L'avocate de Jacques Mesrine
Georges Wilson	...	Henri Lelièvre
Alain Fromager	...	Jacques Dallier - journaliste pour Minute
Alain Doutey	...	Le président du tribunal à Compiègne
Laure Marsac	...	La journaliste interview
Arsène Mosca	...	Jojo - un policier
Christophe Vandevelde	...	Inspecteur Gégé
Luc Thuillier	...	Le commissaire OCRB / Lucien Aimé-Blanc
Pascal Elso	...	Le commissaire SRPJ
Serge Biavan	...	L'inspecteur SRPJ
Isabelle Vitari	...	La caissière
Michaël Vander-Meiren	...	Le gendarme à Compiègne #1
David Seigneur	...	Le gendarme à Compiègne #2
Nicolas Abraham	...	Grangier
Joseph Malerba	...	Robert
Pascal Doucet-Bon	...	Journaliste Compiègne
Emmanuel Vieilly	...	L'inspecteur au cimetière
Pascal Liger	...	Le boxeur
Gérard Jarrier	...	Gardien de la paix
David Bursztein	...	Le tireur d'élite gradé
Helena Soubeyrand	...	La copine arrestation
Fabrice de la Villehervé	...	Le gardien-chef
Jean-Luc Muscat	...	Gardien prison de la Santé
Vincent Jouan	...	Gardien prison de la Santé
Eric Boucher	...	Gardien prison de la Santé
Bernard Rosselli	...	Gardien prison de la Santé
Philippe Le Dem	...	Gardien prison de la Santé
Erik Forcinal	...	Le gardien avocat
Fanny Sidney	...	Sabrina 16 ans
Alain Rimoux	...	L'avocat général
Olivier Pajot	...	Le président Assises Paris
Olivier Bartélémy	...	Le codétenu évasion (as Olivier Barthélémy)
Rachel Suissa	...	Princesse Annie
Clémence Thioly	...	Princesse Christiane
Xavier Letourneur	...	Le brigadier-chef Deauville (as Xavier Le Tourneur)
Yan Brian	...	Directeur casino Deauville
Hervé Laudière	...	Le fermier
Françoise Le Plénier	...	La fermière
Jérôme Boyer	...	Gendarme barrage police
Jean-Pierre Dantan	...	Gendarme barrage police
Clément Sasseville	...	Vendeur journaux Londres
Martial Courcier	...	Complice enlèvement
Frédéric Constant	...	Le fils du milliardaire
Nicolas Woirion	...	Le policier BMW rançon
Bernard Constant	...	Le vendeur BMW
Erica Rivolier	...	La femme de Charlie
Benoît Marchand	...	Inspecteur Farrugia
Albert Goldberg	...	Chauffeur SAVIEM
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caroline Mathieu	...	Vendeuse de chaussures (uncredited)
Alexandre Picot	...	Garde du corps (uncredited)
Olivier Schneider	...	Inspecteur (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean-François Richet

Writing credits
Abdel Raouf Dafri		(scenario)
Abdel Raouf Dafri		(adaptation and dialogue) and
Jean-François Richet		(adaptation and dialogue)

Produced by
Manon Baudoin	....	assistant producer
Jean Cottin	....	associate producer
Daniel Delume	....	executive producer
Thomas Langmann	....	producer
Emmanuel Montamat	....	associate producer
Maxime Rémillard	....	producer
André Rouleau	....	producer

Original Music by
Marco Beltrami
Marcus Trumpp

Cinematography by
Robert Gantz

Film Editing by
Bill Pankow
Hervé Schneid

Casting by
Antoinette Boulat

Art Direction by
Jean-Andre Carriere		(supervising art director)

Costume Design by
Virginie Montel

Makeup Department
Christophe Giraud	....	makeup artist
Sandrine Gonzales	....	makeup artist
Thi Thanh Tu Nguyen	....	key makeup artist
Alice Robert	....	makeup artist
Nathalie Trépanier	....	makeup artist
Dana Vargas	....	makeup/hair stylist

Production Management
Adrien Adriaco	....	assistant unit manager
Pierre-Olivier Daudens	....	assistant unit manager
Thibaud Garron	....	assistant unit manager
Olivier Gravenhorst	....	post-production supervisor
Frank Mettre	....	post-production supervisor
François Pulliat	....	unit manager
Danny Rossner	....	production manager
Laurent Sivot	....	production manager
Jerry Thevenet	....	production manager
Gregory Valmir	....	assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Alexandre Bernard	....	second assistant director
Ludovic Bernard	....	first assistant director
Patrice Lefebvre	....	third assistant director
Sinan Saber	....	additional third assistant director

Art Department
Marianne Arsa	....	assistant art director
Christophe Ballu	....	constructor
Dominique Brunel	....	property master
Jean-René Coulon	....	property master
Tristan Girault	....	property master
Sévérine Guilbaud	....	assistant set decorator
Steve Louis	....	graphic designer: Canada
Lionel Pouchard	....	storyboard artist
Patricia Ruelle	....	assistant art director
Asuka Sugiyama	....	art department coordinator

Sound Department
Alexandre Andrillon	....	boom operator
Mélanie Blouin	....	foley editor
Pascal Chauvin	....	foley artist
Edouard d'Heucqueville	....	sound mix technician
Dominique Eyraud	....	boom operator
Julien Gigliotti	....	additional boom operator
Jonathan Goc	....	sound editor
Carl Goetgheluck	....	sound re-recording mixer
François Groult	....	sound re-recording mixer
Vincent Guillon	....	sound editor
Gérard Hardy	....	sound editor
Sébastien Jeannot	....	sound editor
Jean-Christophe Julé	....	foley recordist
Jean Minondo	....	sound mixer
Alexis Place	....	additional sound effects
Loïc Prian	....	sound editor
Franck Tassel	....	assistant foley artist
Alexandre Widmer	....	supervising sound effects editor

Special Effects by
Grégoire Delage	....	special effects technician
Georges Demétrau	....	special effects supervisor
Pascal Fauvelle	....	special effects technician
Max Garnier	....	special effects technician
François Philippi	....	special effects coordinator
Olivier Puechberty	....	matte painter
Charles-Axel Vollard	....	special effects technician

Visual Effects by
Jerome Auliac	....	digital compositor
Anais Bertrand	....	visual effects coordinator
Alain Bignet	....	digital compositor
Jerome Billet	....	digital matte painter
Pierre Billet	....	systems administrator
Alain Carsoux	....	visual effects supervisor
Anthony Charbonnier	....	digital compositor
Jean-Nicolas Costa	....	digital compositor
Nicolas Daniel	....	data manager
Natalène Darfeuille	....	visual effects production assistant
Christophe Dehaene	....	digital compositor
Séverine De Wever	....	visual effects coordinator
Stephane Dittoo	....	visual effects supervisor
Ludivine Ducrocq	....	production administration
Chauvet Florian	....	visual effects coordinator
Monteil Fredrik	....	digital compositor
Vincent Frei	....	digital compositor
Pierre Gosset	....	senior compositor
David Gourmaud	....	visual effects editor
Aurélien Grand	....	retouch and restoration
Pacini Kevin	....	visual effects editor
Aurelie Lajoux	....	senior compositor
Guillaume Le Gouez	....	digital compositor
Yann Leroux	....	digital compositor
Elodie Ly Tri	....	retouch and restoration
Frederic Medioni	....	tracking artist
Jean-Francois Michelas	....	digital compositor
Joel Pinto	....	digital compositor
Siddharthan Raman	....	roto/prep artist
Ghislain Rio	....	digital compositor
Jeremy Séguin	....	digital compositor
Georges Tornero	....	visual effects supervisor

Stunts
Alain Barbier	....	stunts
Francis Bataille	....	stunt driver
Alexandre Cadieux	....	stunt double
Vincent Chatelain	....	stunts
Mike Chute	....	stunt coordinator
Gilles Conseil	....	stunt coordinator
Cyrille Dufaut	....	stunt driver
Sylvain Gabet	....	stunts
Jere Gillis	....	stunt double
Jean Girard	....	stunts
Alain Grellier	....	stunts
Philippe Guégan	....	stunt coordinator
Sébastien Labie	....	stunts
Jean-Claude Lagniez	....	stunt driver
Sébastien Lagniez	....	stunt driver
Emmanuel Lanzi	....	stunt actor
Emmanuel Lanzi	....	stunts
Gregory Loffredo	....	stunts
Christophe Marsaud	....	stunts
Patrick Médioni	....	stunt coordinator
Eric Mondolini	....	stunts
Laurent Mulot	....	stunt driver
Audrey Ottaviano	....	stunts
Alexandre Rambure	....	stunt driver
Frederick Renard	....	stunts
Patrick Ronchin	....	stunt driver
Jean-Pierre Roppars	....	stunt driver
Olivier Schneider	....	stunts
Michaël Troude	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Jimmy Bourcier	....	additional second assistant camera
Gaspard Cresp	....	loader
Marie-sophie Daniel	....	second assistant camera
Grégoire de Calignon	....	second assistant camera
Emmanuel de Fleury	....	first assistant camera
Benoit Dentan	....	camera operator
David Foquin	....	second assistant camera
Olivier Fortin	....	first assistant camera
Gregory Fromentin	....	gaffer
Pierric Gantelmi d'Ille	....	camera operator: "b" camera
Arnaud Gervet	....	second assistant camera
Frédéric Hauss	....	camera loader
Christopher Kralik	....	best boy electric: Montreal
Nicolas Le Gal	....	additional assistant camera
Alexandre Léglise	....	assistant camera
Pierre Mazard	....	first assistant camera
Mikael Monod	....	gaffer
Sophie Moulin	....	additional grip
Benoît Pain	....	second assistant camera
Arthur Savonneau	....	video assistant
Romain Schwartz	....	additional assistant camera
John Trapman	....	aerial director of photography
Steven J. Winslow	....	aerial camera technician: wescam camera

Casting Department
Laurent Couraud	....	extras casting
Patrice Farner	....	extras casting
Kasia Krynska	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Mohamed Al Naimi	....	costume technician
Guy Cloutier	....	key costumer
Marie-Eve Côté	....	extras dresser
Alexia Crisp-Jones	....	wardrobe
Ariane Daurat	....	wardrobe assistant
Christine Gribbin	....	key dresser: extras
Olivia Lahougue	....	wardrobe supervisor
André Nicholas Malouf	....	costume technician: Montreal

Editorial Department
Anne-Sophie Bion	....	first assistant editor
Sophie Chatin	....	additional assistant editor
Jimmy Christophe	....	color timer
Thibaut Damade	....	assistant editor
Claire Fieschi	....	first assistant editor
Reginald Gallienne	....	dailies color grader
Gilles Granier	....	dailies color grader
Svetlana Vaynblat	....	additional editor

Music Department
William Boston	....	orchestrator
Rossano Galante	....	orchestrator
Andrew Kinney	....	orchestrator
John Kurlander	....	music recording engineer
John Kurlander	....	scoring mixer
Jérôme Lateur	....	music supervisor
Dana Niu	....	composer: additional music
Brandon Roberts	....	orchestrator
Mehdi Sayah	....	assistant music supervisor
Jamie Steele	....	pro tools operator

Transportation Department
André Nicholas Malouf	....	driver

Other crew
Dominique Bandet	....	production secretary
Corinne Devaux	....	choreographer
Marc Faye	....	location scout
Thibaud Garron	....	location scout
Pierre Guevremont	....	production accountant
Hugo Jeuffrault	....	production assistant
André Nicholas Malouf	....	production assistant
Karen Mattingly	....	script supervisor
Gomes de Almeida Natasha	....	assistant script supervisor
Luc Poullain	....	helicopter pilot: camera
Delphine Prothais	....	production secretary
Isabelle Querrioux	....	script supervisor
Lisa-Nina Rives	....	assistant script supervisor
James Stickel	....	production assistant
Kevin Van Der Meiren	....	production lawyer

Production Companies

• La Petite Reine
• M6 Films (co-production)
• Remstar Productions (participation) (as Remstar)
• Canal+ (participation)
• TPS Star (participation)
• 120 Films (participation)
• Natixis Coficiné (support)
• Uni Etoile 4 (in association with)
• Uni Étoile 5 (in association with)
• Cinémage 2 (in association with)
• Banque Populaire Images 8 (in association with)
• Région Haute-Normandie (support)
• Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC) (in partnership with)
• Pathé

Distributors

• Hexagon Pictures (2009) (Japan) (theatrical)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Belgium) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Luxembourg) (all media)
• A-Film Distribution (2009) (Netherlands) (all media)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Belgium) (DVD) (retail)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• A-Film Home Entertainment (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (retail)
• Audio Visual Enterprises (2008) (Greece) (all media)
• California Filmes (2009) (Brazil) (all media)
• Califórnia Home Vídeo (2009) (Brazil) (DVD) (Blu-Ray & DVD)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment Slovakia (2009) (Slovakia) (all media)
• Hollywood Classic Entertainment (2009) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• Madman Entertainment (2009) (Australia) (all media)
• Momentum Pictures (2010) (UK) (DVD)
• Momentum Pictures (2010) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Monopole-Pathé (2008) (Switzerland) (all media)
• Movie Bank (2009) (Belgium) (DVD) (rental)
• Movie Bank (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD) (rental)
• Nordisk Film (2009) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Pathé (2008) (France) (all media)
• Remstar Distribution (2008) (Canada) (all media)
• Senator Film (2008) (Germany) (all media)
• Top Film (2008) (Russia) (all media)

Special Effects

• Duran Duboi

Other Companies

• Duran Duboi  digital intermediate

Also Known As:

Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1 (UK) (USA)
Mesrine: Public Enemy Number One (UK) (alternative spelling) (USA) (alternative spelling)
Mesrine - L'ennemi public n° 1 (France) (poster title)
Mesrine: L'ennemi public n° 1 (France) (promotional title)
Mesrine: Part 2 - Public Enemy #1 (International: English title)
Mesrine: Part II - Public Enemy #1 (International: English title)
Public Enemy No. 1, Part 2 (International: English title)

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

France | Canada

Language:

English | French

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | France:U (with warning) | Netherlands:16 | Norway:15 | Ireland:16 | UK:15 | Italy:VM14 | Japan:R15+ | Denmark:15 | Austria:16 | Australia:MA (2009) | Ireland:15 (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Algeria

Company:

La Petite Reine

Trivia:

Eva Green and Marion Cotillard were originally set for the roles ultimately taken by Ludivine Sagnier and Cécile De France in this and in L'instinct de mort (2008). It is however unclear as to which actress would have played what role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When they are in London the apartment is almost certainly French. The style of white beveled tile is never used in British kitchens.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Gangstars (2009) (TV)

Lands successfully between crime thriller, gangster saga and character study

*REVIEW OF BOTH PARTS*

There is a short paragraph that opens both "Mesrine" films; the exact wording escapes me, but it says something like "no film can accurately portray the complexities of a human life". This seems to be a pre-emptive defense, as if Richet anticipates criticism for a lack of depth or some glaring omissions. After all, Jacques Mesrine is apparently still a famous name in France, and his public persona lives on. If even half his supposed exploits were true, the story would still be crying out for a definitive dramatisation. As such, Richet has wisely avoided making any real ethical judgements of Mesrine's character, focusing instead on the sex, violence and publicity that he thrived upon. But it's Vincent Cassel's committed and exuberant performance that develops this meat-and-potatoes content into an unbiased character study of excess and, over all, a very fine pair of movies.

"Mesrine" may not seem to be particularly even-handed at first because of the glamour, the wisecracks, and the endless charisma, all of which are drawn from the rich stylistic tradition of the Gangster Movie, and used very skilfully in its favour. The fast pace of the story ensures we are either seduced or repulsed by the central character, and rarely anywhere in between. Sympathy or pity is irrelevant, and he is too brutal and trigger-happy to be rooted for as a regular protagonist. The first film is the slicker of the two, and the more visually satisfying due to the wonderfully stylish recreation of early 60s Paris (and elsewhere). Cassel plays Mesrine with youthful vigour here. He's all style and brash confidence, as endearing a wiseguy as any of Scorcese's characters. It's "Goodfellas", in fact, that "Killer Instinct" is most reminiscent of, with its sharp-suited mobsters (including a brilliantly grizzled Gerard Depardieu) and episodic year-hopping narrative.

By the half-way point, Mesrine is still something of an enigma. It's only in "Public Enemy No. 1" that the pace slows down and we can see, through a few intimate and contemplative scenes, what he has sacrificed to live as a superlative criminal. "I wasn't much of a son, I'm not much of a father either." he says, while in disguise visiting his own ailing father in hospital. He gradually alienates his closest friends and accomplices by trying to maintain the outlandish public profile he cultivated, rambling pseudo-revolutionary politics to journalists and threatening to kill judges and destroy all maximum security prisons. The "Goodfellas" ensemble of the first part becomes the isolated, ego-driven "Scarface" of the second as Cassel skilfully matures his character into a man resigned to the fate he knows must be coming.

The over all impression left by "Mesrine" is that it manages to land successfully between crime thriller, gangster saga and character study. This is achieved by the virtue of a standout central performance, as well as Richet's shrewd application of an American film-making style to a very French story. It ought to go down among the top crime dramas of the decade, or at the very least raise the (already decent) international profile of its impressive leading man.