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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  • Dual Layer (RSDL )
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • French: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  Subtitles
    English, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, Thai
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer - The Code; Sin; Ride or Die; The Pact of Silence
The Code (Rental)
Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Home Entertainment . R4 . COLOR . 106 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

“Just when I thought I was out, they drag me back in.”

Although not from this film, that line encapsulates a whole sub-genre of films based upon the life of cinematic gangsters and their futile quest to go ‘legit’ while the ever present snaking tendrils of fate are doggedly determined to pull them down to their predestined (and often violent) demise. Some of these films work, some don’t, and while the source of this quote has (I think) been unfairly lambasted, it is still several notches above the focus of this review, La Mentale (The Code), a French-set urban gangster story which ultimately boils down to sharing the same idea thematically.

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In France, a white pony symbolises pure love. Or it could just be a white pony. I dunno.

The story centers on the efforts of Dris (Samuel Le Bihan), a recently released ex-con trying to go straight after a life of crime and a spell in prison. His world, now consisting of a shitty job and a wife, Lise (Marie Guillard), with all indicators pointing to the straight and narrow, is tempted back to his old life by his friends, taunting him with the lifestyle pleasures and an old flame, Nina (Clotilde Courau). Against his better judgment he stumbles in and sets to work on scores and feuding with other gangs, but sitting on the periphery is all that accompanies that lifestyle ready to tear it all apart by the violence, anarchy and unpredictability that the criminal code offers.

If this all sounds familiar, I’m sorry to say it doesn’t get any better, continuing with the predictable plotting of his younger rebellious brother choosing to follow the wrong path Dris has tried (unsuccessfully) to leave behind. As you’d expect, Dris tries vainly to coax him out of it but to no avail. The result is central to the second half of the film, which along with Yanis (Samy Naceri), Dris’ more than slightly unhinged friend, leads to a climactic showdown that will settle scores and return the cycle to the beginning again.

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The first blade shaves close, the second blade even closer, and the third blade really f*cks you up.

If anything, La Mentale shows that the French can recycle American material just as much as Americans do to French cinema when they’re hard up for a story. Whether their media takes them to task for their lack of originality as happens when the opposite occurs in American, I have no idea, but cop a shellacking they should.

As I’ve explained, they haven’t added anything to the story that lifts it up above the norm, with the typical roll-call of psychotics, henchmen, dons and such mixing it up in your standard locations. Unfortunately, the very fact that it is a French film will make some clods believe that it is a stylish and more sophisticated affair than it really is, simply because of the presence of subtitles. Don’t be fooled, subtitles or not, La Mentale is a very ordinary film based upon a string of ideas that have a ‘been there, done that’ aroma.

  Video
  Audio
  Extras
Contract

This has a fairly nice picture, filmed mostly in gritty urban locations, the 1.85:1, 16:9 enhanced transfer is unfortunately pegged down in my book by the fact that it makes an appearance on our shores as yet another stupid NTSC DVD release. You’ve heard all I have to say about stupid NTSC Region 4 DVDs in Australia, so I won’t revisit old ground, other than to say that it was easily bearable except for the shitty stupid jerkiness clearly visible every now and then. Stupid NTSC. Stupid people and their stupid choices. Otherwise, the picture is reasonably detailed if a tad soft, but then even spread over a large screen it is still more than easy to look at. Blacks tend more towards flatness with distinct reduced detail. The picture can be very grainy, more visibly in the darker scenes, such as those in the climax at night. Even so, it’s still a fine and generally enjoyable picture that shouldn’t have you up in arms.

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"I need a pot big enough for a decapitated head, a foot and a leg, and maybe a nice rose bush."

Audiowise, with its clear dialogue, effective steering and room encompassing zippiness, the well immersive Dolby Digital 5.1 mixed original French language track is the way to go, and not just because the dubbed English version sounds so bloody stupid in comparison. Every male voice actor is determined to use his best gruff American mob accent, and add to that the at times appalling change of words to bastardise the dialogue (listen to the French track with English subs to get my drift) and the result is something you’ll only listen to for the same reason you just have to look at a car accident.

Clearly nobody thought this film was worth any extra effort after the budget was blown, because there’s nothing to expand the bonus features section beyond one trailer for this film and three trailers for other films I won’t be reviewing or watching if I can help it.

This DVD is sitting up on the rental shelves right now at your local store, just waiting to find a generous viewer willing to take a chance on a moody foreign gangster story. If you spend less than five minutes in the store you’re bound to miss it because you normally head right for the big budget, better know films, right? Try spending a few minutes more and you discover that the bottom shelves contain a few titles you’ll never have heard of, like this one, for example. Go on, take a chance on it, see for yourself what the frogs are doing with their movie industry. Granted it’s not a great film, but then neither is half of the current crap making its way out of Hollywood lately.


  • LINK: http://www.dvd.net.au/review.cgi?review_id=3761
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  •   And I quote...
    "La Mentale shows that the French can recycle American material just as much as the Americans do French cinema when they’re hard up for a story."
    - Vince Carrozza
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Sony DVP-NS730P
    • TV:
          Philips 55PP8620
    • Receiver:
          Sony STR-DB1070
    • Speakers:
          Wharfedale s500
    • Centre Speaker:
          Polk Audio CS245
    • Surrounds:
          Wharfedale WH-2
    • Subwoofer:
          DB Dynamics TITAN
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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