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Thursday, 30 September 2010
Jacques Mesrine 1936-1979 "Public Enemy No. 1" was a 1970's French John Dillinger: he robbed, he kidnapped, he escaped prison, and was shot dead in public.
The young Mesrine was expelled from school for being aggressive. He served in the French Army during the Algerian War. The French Army had a sadistic reputation during this war; they tortured many Algerians. When Jacques Mesrine returned from this war in 1959, he took to a life of crime.
Mesrine was a romanticized hero in France. It was a time of change in the 60's and 70's, a time of opposing the institutions of France. He became a symbol of freedom as he broke rule after rule, robbed bank after bank, and kidnapped rich people for ransom.
In 1961, he married Maria De La Soledad. They had children. He attempted to settle down with a real job, but was let go when his company downsized and he returned to a life of crime.
Known as "The Man of a Hundred Faces", he escaped capture for many years.
In 1968, he fled to the United States and Canada with his mistress following a series of robberies in France.
After a long string of murder, kidnapping, and robberies in North America, he and his mistress were captured in Arkansas, USA in 1969.
The two were extradited to Quebec. Mesrine escaped high security prison twice!
He fled to Venezuela.
In 1972, he came back to France and continued robbing banks. In 1973, he was arrested and escaped during his trial by taking the judge hostage with a revolver someone hid in the courthouse bathroom for him.
In 1977, he was captured, convicted and put in a maximum security prison in France. He wrote an autobiography L'Instinct de Mort (The Death Instinct). It was smuggled out of the prison and published.
You can buy it in French on Amazon today.
In 1978, Mesrine escaped from the maximum security prison La Sante. Guards had smuggled weapons in for Mesrine. The escape became a scandal for the French government; Mesrine became even more of a legend to the French people.
He traveled all over Europe, robbing, kidnapping, and giving exclusive interviews with journalists, one whom he nearly beat to death as he didn't approve of the articles he had written. In June of 1979, Mesrine kidnapped a millionaire and received 6 million francs.
In August of 1979, the French Government had had enough. An order was given to track Mesrine down and to kill him. On November 2, 1979, he was gunned down, ala Bonnie and Clyde, in his car. he was killed and his girlfriend was seriously injured. There was public backlash saying that it was an execution and that Mesrine wasn't tried for his crimes.
In 2007 and 2008, Jean-Francois Richet directed a two-film series about the life of Jacques Mesrine starring Vincent Cassel, Cecile de France, Gerard Depardieu, Mathieu Amalric, and Ludivine Sagnier.
Part one - Mesrine : Killer Instinct I blogged about 2 days ago (see trailer)
Part two - Mesrine: Public enemy No. 1 (see trailer below)
The films won the Cesar (French version of Oscar) for Best Director and Best Actor.
The trailer in my blog of two days ago is in English and seems to be for both films. The trailer below is in French and strictly for the second film. Both films are exceptional. Enjoy!
Gros bisous de gangster francais et a demain!
Love, Charley
...
dans un paysage qui me fait penser à Noël ...
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