MovieChat Forums > L'instinct de mort (2008) Discussion > Note to Hollywood! this is how you make ...

Note to Hollywood! this is how you make a frickin movie!

posted 14 years ago by jlnewton147
21 replies | jump to latest

After watching this film and also bad education,city of god and obviously some top quallity brit flicks, it is ever becoming more apparent how lame hollywood is and how they manage to screw up even the best source material.

Not just as a gangster movie this film imo is just an all round original and technically superior piece of work than anything i have seen come out of koo koo land.

Prime excample at the moment is Public ennemies with johnny depp, pure style over substance and in half an hour of watching i was bored out my skull whereas in mesrine i was gutted when it ended after 4 hours, (i class 1 and 2 as same film)

I am interested in other peoples opinion about it on here but i think the number 1 problem in hollywood without a shadow of a doubt is the script! there is not enough great diolog in movies and the only ones where there is, any tarrantino,scorcese are classed as pioneers and loved by the public and not so much at the awards season so what does that say! it says they are more interessted in making watered down cliche ridden crap that just to make a quick buck rather than tell real interesting stories,they need to spend less time forking out on cgi and 20 million star salaries and invest in some decent writers.
And they are always ripping off films like this and the vanishing.vanilla sky and so on because they have no original ideas of there own.

I mean the premise of this film is very basic, man robs banks,goes to prison,breaks out of prison, robs more banks, and does the whole thing over again, but the writing and nateral acting by the lead are so strong there is never a dull moment and ironically even though the film didnt try to glomorise or make him a cool George clooney type thief, he was way more engaging and that rawness had far more appeal

anyone agree or am i just stating the obvious

[–] cluniac 13 years ago

I'm no great fan of Hollywood movies on the whole, but I think that 'Mesrine' is not as good as the best Hollywood gangster films. 'Goodfellas', for example, is definitely better than 'Mesrine', I'd say. 'Mesrine' -both parts -is an entertaining enough film, but I wouldn't say it's a classic.

[–] jeffsh 13 years ago

I thought Deep's movie was really bad, but I cant see how this was any better. Hwo did the looking into who he was? They went fromone scene where he was trying to quit the mob to the next where he sticks a gun down the throat of his wife. It was poorly written and only got awards as it was a foreign film. They didnt do anything new except film in france canada and one shot in america.

Cassel is a fantastic actor and I've follwoed him since seeing him Le Haine in the early 90's but this was poorly written and a cliche filled film. Just my opinion.

-only uneducated minds are not open to any ideas other than their own.

[–] DeclanCochran 10 years ago

I don't believe in absolutes, as there are always exceptions to every rule (as you yourself point out with The Road), but I absolutely agree with your general argument. Hollywood is a business and a machine, and they churn out what they think the public will like with the intent of making money, and that's all. Those directors you named make movies because they love movies and want to make better movies. Hence why people love them, hence why they never clear up at awards ceremonies, as you say.

I haven't seen Public Enemies, nor do I intend to, but I can't imagine it beating this. This is a beautifully made film that is gripping and unforgettable. It's what happens when the European film industry makes a Hollywood film; it shows up all the flaws that the Hollywood system has.

I agree with your point about writers, but I also think that should be extended to directors, cameramen, actors, producers, the lot. Get writers writing decent stories to be directed by directors with a proper vision, and shot by cameramen who know their technique, and acted by people who believe in the material, and produced by producers who have faith in the quality of the finished product to find an appreciative audience (as opposed to simply crowdsourcing what was popular and turning that into the next Blockbuster; art should be made for the audience, not by the audience; I am made very uncomfortable by the likes of Netflix engineering TV shows based on the raw viewing data. Art can't be engineered, it should just be made and then discovered).

Slight aside; you're right, and Mesrine is one awesome film. Good post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My list of films I consider good; http://www.imdb.com/list/HhtSboRgtg0/