This second part of the story sees Mesrine lose his direction a little - what is he doing it for? He starts to see himself as a revolutionary, opening up some avenues for the film to explore. However, considering the run-time of the films when put together approaches a whopping four hours, we see very little of the vacuous, empty soul of this disgusting man. By far the most revealing scenes of the whole thing occurs when he is in prison in the first part. The terror he experienced is not built on. All we see in this part is surface.
As a result, we know very little about Mesrine after watching this film, except that he hated the capitalist system he waged war on. Of course, perhaps there is little you can say about him without humanising him. I know Cassell, a powerhouse of an actor who carries the film in the manner of a Brando or De Niro, wanted to give an honest portrayal, without causing excessive sympathy for his character. However cinema can do so much to convey depth and humanity in all its glory and terror, sometimes in a single shot or line, and that is lacking here both in the writing and in the direction, which (and this is a flaw of many biopics) is too episodic and even paced to create much drama or interest other than that brought by the efforts of Cassell.
Perhaps a tighter single volume would have been a better film, even if it meant leaving out some details of the story, perhaps a braver editor might have cut some of it down. But this film is too long and delivers too little. Maybe its just not that good a story to tell?
As a result, we know very little about Mesrine after watching this film, except that he hated the capitalist system he waged war on. Of course, perhaps there is little you can say about him without humanising him. I know Cassell, a powerhouse of an actor who carries the film in the manner of a Brando or De Niro, wanted to give an honest portrayal, without causing excessive sympathy for his character. However cinema can do so much to convey depth and humanity in all its glory and terror, sometimes in a single shot or line, and that is lacking here both in the writing and in the direction, which (and this is a flaw of many biopics) is too episodic and even paced to create much drama or interest other than that brought by the efforts of Cassell.
Perhaps a tighter single volume would have been a better film, even if it meant leaving out some details of the story, perhaps a braver editor might have cut some of it down. But this film is too long and delivers too little. Maybe its just not that good a story to tell?