Instead of showing him getting shot at the beginning of the film, why not wait 'till the end? Just spoils all the tension at the end...the bits where they show the cops sweating and stuff...what a waste of time becuase we know what happens!
share[deleted]
The opening may have been cliched, but I liked how they reworked and replayed the same scene from the point of view of the cops at the end of the film.
shareCouple of questions - firstly why when the police got Meserine's girlfriend out of the car and were shouting at her to shut up etc, did they use the familiar and not the formal i.e tais toi instead of taisez vous? Secondly, sorry my concentration waned but was it the police that shot him or friends of the journalist/other enemies. I'm going to re-watch at some stage but am limited now as my download expires in about 20 mins and I need more time to watch and take other stuff in! Thanks.
shareIt's quite common to 'tu toi' people you want to put down; it diminishes them. And yes, it was a hit team from two police departments.
shareIt's the diptych genre where the film is bookended with the ending scene split into different POVs.
I would agree with you though that I don't particularly care for it. While the different POV is still interesting it does take a final scene down a notch by making it anticlimactic and lessening the suspense.
Even those familiar with Mesrine's death, being familiar with how that scene was going to play out killed all the suspense while they were walking down the sidewalk. You knew it would end with him in the car getting riddled with bullets from the swat team.
Thing is though, I got the sense that Mesrine knew it was coming (maybe not exactly when, but like he had a feeling this might be his final journey). All the looking around, plus just generally knowing that he'd finally gone too far. So maybe that flash-forward in the beginning sort of gave a similar feeling to us as well--the "here it comes" feeling. The scene still had tension--the whole nature of how it played out--even if we knew what was coming. At least it did for me, but I'm the kind of viewer who can be "spoilered" (within reason) and still enjoy seeing the "how" of it playing out. (I.e. spoilers won't necessarily ruin a movie for me if the scene in question is still well-executed and dramatic.)
Understanding is a three-edged sword.