districtb13

AC/AL/V 2006 110m FRENCH/
ENG. SUB

CAST: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D'Amario, Bibi Naceri, Dany Verissimo & François Chattot

CREDITS: Director: Pierre Morel; Producer: Luc Besson; Screenwriters: Luc Besson/Bibi Naceri; Director of Photography: Manuel Teran; Production Designer: Hugues Tissandlier; Editor: Frederic Thoraval; Costume Designers: Alexandre Rossi/Martine Rapin; Music: Da Octopusss

THE SYNOPSIS

Paris, France, 2010. The crime rate has risen to such proportions that one district, #13, has been walled off from the rest of the city. Living among the drug cartels, murderers and gang members is the upright Leito (Belle)--who has just swiped a million bucks’ worth of heroin away from D13’s most dastardly gang and flushes it down the drain.

He dodges the gang by running from rooftop to rooftop and scaling down walls, all the while beating up any baddie that gets in his way. The big boss, sleazy Taha (co-scripter Naceri) orders his lumbering lieutenant K2 (D’Amario) to snatch up Leito’s pretty young sister Lola (Verissimo). They do, but Leito busts in and saves her.

A wild chase ensues and ends up at D13’s only police precinct, where the cops are closing up shop. The corrupt captain hands Loa over to Taha when he shows up with his army of goons in tow. Leito freaks and kills the corrupt lawman.

Six months later, Lola has been turned into a junkie slave of Taha. Leito languishes in prison, but keeps himself in shape. He must save his sister. In another part of Paris, a talented and agile officer, Damien (Raffaelli) busts up a drug operation and is rewarded by his Commander by undertaking a new, dangerous mission.

The shady Minister Of Interior, Krüger (Chattot), instructs Damien to bust Leito out of prison to help him locate the whereabouts of a stolen nuclear warhead that has ended up in the clutches of Taha and his hooligans...who now want mucho millions to not point the rocket warhead at the Eiffel Tower.

Against the odds, the ruse works and Damien gets Leito out. Naturally the two young men are at odds at first--but Damien makes Leito understand the severity of the situation. They work together by agreeing to free Lola while diffusing the bomb.

Against even more odds, the duo jump, fight, run, outwit and evade the villains and save Lola. But as they work on the bomb, they notice that the code features numbers pertaining to District B13. What’s that shady Krüger up to? Maybe he wants the guys to arm the weapon and destroy B13! Not if our heroes can help it!

THE CRITIQUE

Damned! That roof-jumping stuff sure does look dangerous--but what a hoot to watch! I have to say, DB13 snuck in under the radar but is sure making an impression. Originally released in France in 2004 as BANLIEUE 13, the movie was created, co-written & produced by one of my French favorites--Luc Besson (The Fifth Element/La Femme Nikita/Leon: The Professional).

True to form, it follows a similar formula to other French/Besson-produced flicks like The Transporter 1 & 2, Jet Li’s recent Unleashed. The credo is simple: plenty of action, stylish cinematography, razor-sharp editing and plenty of attractive bodies moving lithely through the air or on the ground (...or through windows, etc.).

DB13 certainly exhibits all of the above. It’s the kind of action flick that the guy’s will love for the obvious reasons while the gals will show up just to see the hunky leads strut their stuff. Ladies, you’re in for a treat!

Speaking of the leads, blonde-haired Cyril Raffaelli and raven-haired David Belle are a dynamic on-screen duo. The former is a talented martial-artist, stuntman and all-around cool mo-fo while the latter is the co-founder of Parkour (that kinetically-awesome roof-jumping stuff that I’ve quickly become fond of).

Parkour has really taken off in the movies in the last handful of years. It plays an exciting part in the 2006 James Bond flick Casino Royale (Bond is being chased around rooftops by a villain played by Parkour’s other co-founder, Sebastien Foucan). According to the press notes, Raffaelli says that some 90% of the action (Parkour and otherwise) was done practically and without the use of CGI. Works for me! The fight sequences sizzle quite nicely as well.

Kudos must also go to Besson-protégé/cinematographer (The Transporter/Unleashed/Rogue)-turned-director Pierre Morel for basically just keeping up with his stars! Slick helming and stylish derring-do will keep this guy directing for a long time.

Credit the industrial, widescreen-lensing to French DP Manuel Teran, AFC, while the razor-sharp editing is courtesy of Besson cutter Frédéric Thoraval. Solid stuff. The €12,000,000 production (approximately $12,000,000 in 2004 dollars) was shot in Paris, France while most of the run-down locales were filmed in Bucharest, Romania. They must have better roofs or something.

THE BOTTOM LINE

What it lacks in cohesive narrative, DISTRICT B13 more than makes up for in ass-kickin’ action. One thing I have to say about the French is that they sure know how to do action pictures. Recommended for those who enjoy Gallic-flavored action entrees like this one. Bon appetit, mon amis!