French Mob Films

Two of the best Mob styled films I've seen happen to be French. Mesrine, and Un Prophete are some of the best films I've ever seen.

Mesrine is about the French gangster, and bank robber Jacques Mesrine. It also has one of my favorite actors, Vincent Cassel.



Un Prophete, doesn't have very known actors, but I think the film is legendary. It's about a Arab French prisoner, who deals with the Corsican mafia.



If you guys want the download links for either movie, just reply.

I like Vincent Cassel a lot. He was fantastic in "Eastern Promises."

Yeah, he's a great actor. I think he was built for criminal type roles. Have you watched Mesrine?

Not yet, but I'll put it on my list. I've not seen too many French films. The last I saw was "Tell No One," based on the Harlan Coben novel. It was fantastic.

I haven't seen Mesrine yet. I did see Un Prophete.
Cassel is a good actor who married way above his station..

Monica Bellucci?

I did her .

And then you woke up...

I want to see "Tell No One", a cousin of mine told me about it. I think foreign mobster films are great, most of them are really good. I want to watch Romanzo Criminale, which seems to be a great movie.

You should watch it, it's a great film. It's in two parts, each two hours long. I think longer movies are better, just because it gives you a bigger connection to the characters.

The French excel in gangster movies and film noir in general. "Rififi" is right up there with "Asphalt Jungle" as one of the all-time great heist films. Also, "Bob le Flambeur," "The Sicilian Clan," and "Breathless."

Le Samouraï and Le Cercle Rouge with the one and only Alain Delon are also good ones.

I have seen A PROPHET. Very good film indeed.

We have a new French film out over here called 22 BULLETS starring Jean Reno. I have not seen this one but it has been getting rave reviews.

Though I can't claim to have seen much, I do think the French are particularly invested in solid crime films, though it's been ages since I've seen a great one. I found Olivier Marchal's 36 (2004) tiresome; starring Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu, it's set up as a kind of post-Heat playoff between the two, but it's just too formulaic.

I liked A Prophet but feel it's Audiard's least interesting film. I rate Read My Lips (2001) and The Beat That My Heart Skipped (2005), both crime dramas, higher than his latest film; the former stars Vincent Cassell and the latter is a reworking of James Toback's 1977 film Fingers, with Harvey Keitel.

Cassell is also in La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz's 1995 crime film, and in the same director's later film Crimson Rivers (2000) opposite Jean Reno; old board member Anthony Lombardi was a fan of that film, though I've not seen it myself.

I think Cassell's best performance is in Gaspar Noé's gut-wrenching Irreversible (2002), which instills an extreme hyperreality into one traumatic incident (a rape) and the emotional and moral response in its immediate aftermath (drug-fuelled violent rage) so as to make a horror film out of a 'crime'. It's quite incredible, and if you're a fan of him - or Monica Bellucci for that matter, who also gives the best performance I've seen of her - check it out.

I'll add praise to the Melville films: Le samourai, Le cercle rouge, Le dolous are all brilliant films (I haven't seen Un flic or Bob le flambeur; Godard's own reworkings of American B noirs, Breathless (dedicated to Monogram) and Bande a part are both excellent too.

Tracing back even further through French films noirs, Dassin's Rififi (1955) and Duvivier's Pépé le Moko (1936) are must-sees.

I really recommend Bob Swaim's La balance (1982), which was so self-consciously of its time (it's the Eighties after all) that it feels a bit dated now, but there's an overall worthy feel to it. I also love Plein soleil (1965), René Clément's colour-saturated, taut adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr. Ripley, which might be forgotten these days in favour of the Hollywood treatment starring Matt Damon and Jude Law...

I just saw Mesrine recently. It's divided in two parts and it's a very realisticly portrayed film. I definitely recommend this one.

I forgot to mention Jean-Jacques Beineix's Diva (1981), a stylish neo-noir that sparked France's new New Wave.

I caught A Prophet on World Movies when I was back in Australia recently. Great flick. I loved the whole Corsican/Italian/Muslim gang intersections, and Tahar Rahim (Malik) turned in a great performance, IMO.

I recently watched the Mesrine films. Yes, very good!

ever watched "le clan des siciliens" 1969 movie?its a good one