This expansion of the short film "Assassins...", one of Mathieu Kassovitz first films, is a thrilling, absorbing and unstoppable experience to the senses.
It's definitely an improvement on his own original idea as he takes things to a whole new level of situations, dangers and with something important to say about the nature of killing, why some men do it, why others reject that, and even why some fail at trying. The hatred it got back on its release comes from audiences who were expecting to see another "La Haine", the phenomenal breakthrough movie of Kassovitz. Different experiences obviously but great on their own.
Unlike the brotherly convention of the short, the Max character played by Kassovitz is a clumsy petty thief who, thanks to an accidental encounter, is chosen by a veteran professional assassin (Michel Serrault) to be his pupil and continue his tradition in killing people as he's old and very sick. Frightened yet fascinated by the old man he goes along with him, even knowing that the act of killing is not for him, but he goes. He gets a meticulous training, details about guns and where and whom to use them, almost becoming like a son figure. Obviously that there are plenty of things to go wrong, and with the introduction of a teenage character (Mehdi Benoufa) in the mix who wants to be a killer (and actually has some talent), all is lost for them.
"Assassin(s)" is essentially about the business conduct, how the trade is taught and executed, and the way different people react to the brutal act of taking another person's life. It might upset some viewers due to the lack of police authorities and some investigation about their acts. And if one is worried about that they shouldn't, because it's easily to deduct that they could be caught right after the first murder (which forms the whole short) and the disastrous crime scene with hundreds of evidence. It concerns about the job, one that pays the bills and he was taught by his father as a tradition, he's good at it and needs that such craft gets shared.
Another mystery comes as for whom hires the old man, who are the victims and we are left clueless as to if those people should be put of their misery or not.
We don't have time to identify with the victims except for the fact they're about to die and there lies the danger of a movie like this, that we end up caring for the young dumb type and the authoritarian yet charismatic old timer.
If the film doesn't feel so original or highly intelligent, at least Kassovitz compensates with great moments, well edited and photographed shots referecing the works of De Palma, Scorsese, Spielberg and even himself with a brief shot of an ad that appeared predominantly in "La Haine". He never loses momentum through everything (except for the lame sequence wtih the group of kids on the car, which was idiotic in terms of story and it only served to add a tense recipe to disaster moment). His direction of actors is very solid and everything goes without problems. Serrault was a knockout, very believable and funny at times with his dark humor - the scene where he has dinner with Max's mother is priceless. Kassovitz is also good just as the kid.
There's a somewhat overused criticism on media, video games and television specially, almost as if being a French response to "Natural Born Killers" as they both treat violence and death in an insensitive manner as the public had become over the decades with such media (today's the internet). But pay attention in those excessive shots of characters watching TV at all times, flipping through channels non stop, braindead and just hoping for something incredble to pop, almost as a way to either cope from the tragedy they did, trying to forget everything or trying to see if they can visualize something more disturbing. Overused for its era, but interesting to notice here. A different form of thriller, but highly enjoyable. 9/10.
It's definitely an improvement on his own original idea as he takes things to a whole new level of situations, dangers and with something important to say about the nature of killing, why some men do it, why others reject that, and even why some fail at trying. The hatred it got back on its release comes from audiences who were expecting to see another "La Haine", the phenomenal breakthrough movie of Kassovitz. Different experiences obviously but great on their own.
Unlike the brotherly convention of the short, the Max character played by Kassovitz is a clumsy petty thief who, thanks to an accidental encounter, is chosen by a veteran professional assassin (Michel Serrault) to be his pupil and continue his tradition in killing people as he's old and very sick. Frightened yet fascinated by the old man he goes along with him, even knowing that the act of killing is not for him, but he goes. He gets a meticulous training, details about guns and where and whom to use them, almost becoming like a son figure. Obviously that there are plenty of things to go wrong, and with the introduction of a teenage character (Mehdi Benoufa) in the mix who wants to be a killer (and actually has some talent), all is lost for them.
"Assassin(s)" is essentially about the business conduct, how the trade is taught and executed, and the way different people react to the brutal act of taking another person's life. It might upset some viewers due to the lack of police authorities and some investigation about their acts. And if one is worried about that they shouldn't, because it's easily to deduct that they could be caught right after the first murder (which forms the whole short) and the disastrous crime scene with hundreds of evidence. It concerns about the job, one that pays the bills and he was taught by his father as a tradition, he's good at it and needs that such craft gets shared.
Another mystery comes as for whom hires the old man, who are the victims and we are left clueless as to if those people should be put of their misery or not.
We don't have time to identify with the victims except for the fact they're about to die and there lies the danger of a movie like this, that we end up caring for the young dumb type and the authoritarian yet charismatic old timer.
If the film doesn't feel so original or highly intelligent, at least Kassovitz compensates with great moments, well edited and photographed shots referecing the works of De Palma, Scorsese, Spielberg and even himself with a brief shot of an ad that appeared predominantly in "La Haine". He never loses momentum through everything (except for the lame sequence wtih the group of kids on the car, which was idiotic in terms of story and it only served to add a tense recipe to disaster moment). His direction of actors is very solid and everything goes without problems. Serrault was a knockout, very believable and funny at times with his dark humor - the scene where he has dinner with Max's mother is priceless. Kassovitz is also good just as the kid.
There's a somewhat overused criticism on media, video games and television specially, almost as if being a French response to "Natural Born Killers" as they both treat violence and death in an insensitive manner as the public had become over the decades with such media (today's the internet). But pay attention in those excessive shots of characters watching TV at all times, flipping through channels non stop, braindead and just hoping for something incredble to pop, almost as a way to either cope from the tragedy they did, trying to forget everything or trying to see if they can visualize something more disturbing. Overused for its era, but interesting to notice here. A different form of thriller, but highly enjoyable. 9/10.