Viking Night: District B13
By Bruce Hall
July 6, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Previously on Viking Night, I decided to take a look at a classic film that at first glance seems a bit too widely loved to merit inclusion in this space. But, as I mentioned, some films are much broader in scope than they appear on the surface, and over time the original intent becomes obscured and even forgotten. I stand by my interpretation of that film but I’ll admit that I reached intentionally, in the interest of challenging myself. Not so with this week’s contestant. I’m leaning pretty far to the other side of the spectrum this time, toward a considerably less well known title. If you saw Casino Royale you’ll remember Bond’s chase through the construction site as he hunted down a suspect who seemed as nimble as a cat made out of rubber bands. It was most people’s first exposure to the art of parkour, but it’s hardly the first time it’s been featured on screen. If you enjoyed Agent 007’s run up the crane, I’d like to recommend to you a film built almost entirely around people doing things you thought only cats could do – provided you can accept the complete absence of Daniel Craig. And it’s a film that springs from the mind of a man who specializes in turning terrible ideas into surprisingly entertaining stuff. But unless you’re a bit of a movie buff, a fan of its creators, or you consider jumping off of tall buildings a form of exercise, you’ve probably never even heard of District B13.
The product of writer Luc Besson and director Pierre Morel, District B13 is set in a dystopian near-future Paris, France. It is clear from the start that this film has something to say about the degeneration of society and the struggle to reclaim the relevance of compassion in an environment where being human doesn’t seem to mean much any more. That’s all well and good but I find it funny that the first thing that stood out to me about this movie was the fact that it takes place in 2010 – which couldn’t have seemed all that far off back in 2004 when the it was released. It’s a minor quibble but it seems to me that if you’re going to paint a picture of contemporary society gone mad, you might want to place it far enough in the future so that it seems more prescient than preposterous. I hope I’m wrong, but barring war or natural disaster it’s a little hard to envision civilization collapsing so thoroughly that quickly.
But the Besson/Morel blueprint is more a model of style than substance, despite their occasional attempts at intellectual garnishment. District B13 does betray a modest pretension toward social commentary, but please don’t make the mistake of expecting to come away enlightened. In fact, the self consciously vogue opening titles, paired with an amateurish hip-hop soundtrack, might initially leave you feeling a bit underwhelmed. But they set the tone for what quickly turns into a surprisingly enjoyable, if slightly derivative adventure.
Sometime during the 1990s, the French government cordoned off a section of Paris, isolating the city’s poor, uneducated and criminal elements in a dingy barrio called District B13 (the locations of B1-B12 are never mentioned). Faced with a public no longer willing to tolerate the downside of civilization, the government withdraws all social services from the District, leaving the area’s two million inhabitants to their fate. Soon a violent feudal hierarchy forms, and a handful of drug lords run the place with gangs of hardened enforcers. Today, at least one man tries to maintain an oasis of civilization in this hellhole, a man named Leïto (David Belle), who enforces a no-drug haven in his apartment building. Leïto is what you might call an anti drug-lord-lord, which is admirable but with no obvious source of income, I’ll have to assume this idealistic young man pays his well armed henchmen with hugs instead of money.
As the film begins, Leïto has stolen a cache of drugs from Taha (Bibi Naceri), B13’s most nefarious gangster. Taha’s goons trace the theft to Leïto and catch up to their target just as he destroys the stolen merchandise. Up to this point, the film seems like another derivative big screen action movie with small ideas, full of smirking, self reverential swagger. But Leïto’s flight from his pursuers across the rooftops of Paris is one of the most inventively thrilling chase sequences you’ve seen outside of Hong Kong, particularly since it contains no vehicles, no wire stunts and no special effects. I’ll say it right now – as an action movie, one of the greatest assets of District B13 is a reliance on real stunts and an almost complete absence of CGI.
Of course, Taha’s retaliation is swift, and like any self respecting mob boss, he kidnaps a member of his adversary’s family. Being the starry eyed optimist he is, Leïto seeks the help of the police, and is quickly betrayed and imprisoned. When it comes to B13, the authorities have no interest in what happens there, or to whom it happens. That is, until Taha’s gang manages to get their hands on a deadly government prototype and hold all of Paris at ransom with it. Enter Damien Tomaso (Cyril Raffaelli), a standard issue action movie super-cop who’s introduced to us in an extended sequence where he single handedly takes down another of B13’s crime lords armed with nothing but a silk shirt and fifth degree black belt. Damien is just as idealistic and physically invulnerable as Leïto, and it doesn’t take the government long to see that these two men are their best bet to infiltrate B13 and stop Taha from unleashing his new toy on the city.
Leïto, now in prison, is released to Damien’s custody and despite their initial mutual dislike, they have 24 hours to stop Taha, save Leïto’s family and uncover a sinister government plot that threatens to unravel the entire operation. Don’t worry – it isn’t as complicated as it sounds – B13 is essentially a "one man army" flick with an extra man. Thankfully though, it takes what could have been a very dated riff on a very '80s concept and turns it on its ear. The film proceeds with a wink and a nod; it comes off as light and fanciful as a Jackie Chan adventure, but with considerably less camp and far more violence and profanity. Fair warning - the only "13" in this movie is in the title – put the kids to bed before viewing.
The typical Besson/Morel hallmarks are stamped onto District-B13 like a biker tattoo, and the movie is all the better for it. The action is brisk, the characters are colorful and amusing, and you’re rarely in any doubt about who is going to live, who is going to die, and how it is going to end. Morel is likely to finish his career without an Oscar, but he excels at presenting motion on screen and his skills as an action cinematographer (see: The Transporter) give him a good eye for knowing what belongs in a shot – no more, no less.
Luc Besson writes and produces more often than he directs, and his knack for turning puerile, adolescent action fantasies into crowd pleasing romps is in top form here. The story at times feels a bit like you’re watching Escape From New York: The French Connection, but if we can forgive The Fifth Element for feeling like an extended sketch from Heavy Metal, it should be possible to remain merciful here as well. Besides, Escape From New York clocks in at ten minutes longer than this film, yet contains 60% less action and two thirds less fun. Yet there’s one glaring deficiency that keeps me from placing B13 among Besson’s best storytelling. While his obsession with social paranoia, implausible escapes and ten-ton plot contrivances is alive and well, this film lacks the surprising poignancy of La Femme Nikita and The Professional. Its closest kin is The Transporter, which is also as thin and flaky as a croissant - but just like its cousin, at a well paced 90 minutes, District B13 has no intention of overstaying its welcome. It is lively, cheeky fun that doesn’t take itself seriously enough to be offensive and is over with long before you have a chance to get tired of it. In fact, it hems to the most basic rule of entertainment: always leave the audience wanting more.
I guess it is worth repeating that there is, in the strictest sense, a tiny bit more substance to B13 than you might think. It attempts – quite feebly - to ruminate on the current state of French egalitarianism, and it could be suggested that given the humanist underpinnings of parkour, its inclusion here is more than just a matter of visual flair. But much like the delicious pastry I mentioned a moment ago, it’s all mostly air. This is first and foremost an action film, and I suggest you just enjoy the taste and forget what might be happening to your intellectual arteries. District B13 is fast, funny, and very visually stimulating. Simply put, it’s just a hell of a lot of fun. And just as when it starts, you won’t be expecting much, at the end you’ll most likely find yourself smiling. Even if you don’t enjoy this movie I doubt you’ll hate yourself for having seen it and if you do like it, you’ll immediately want to watch it again. This is a film that for the most part not only meets and exceeds its own goals, but also the expectations of its audience. In my world, that’s probably the best gift any movie can give.