1997 · 1h 43m
The charismatic criminal Dobermann, who got his first gun when he was christened, leads a gang of brutal robbers. After a complex and brutal bank robbery, they are being hunted by the Paris police. The hunt is led by the sadistic cop Christini, who only has one goal: to catch Dobermann at any cost.
Directed by Jan Kounen
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Vincent Cassel is the eponymous bank robber who leads a gang of what can only be described as desperate and disparate eccentrics. Hot in pursuit are the police but they are having little effect until they decide to let the ruthless "Cristini" (Tchéky Karyo) take charge of the investigation. What now ensues is an increasingly bizarre and surreal heist caper that leaves virtually nothing out of bounds with loads of violence, dark comedy, transvestism and then, more violence. I rather liked the ending - it was not what I was expecting nor is it typical of the genre. The writing is pretty ropey though, and the lighting could have been doing with some extra wattage so we could actually see what was going on for more of the time. As a drama it offers us a quickly paced and mildly entertaining, if very unlikely, glimpse of a seedy and grim sub-culture and Cassel - though he doesn't really feature so often - seems to be in his element. It won't be for everyone, this - it is actually quite sordid, and the narrative parodies just about everything from "For A Few Dollars More" (1965) to the "French Connection" (1971) with a bit of soft porn chucked in too. It's not great, no, and I don't imagine I will ever watch to again but still, I didn't hate it..
