MOVIE REVIEWS
District B13
Nathan Lim
I learned a valuable lesson on film criticism.
Last Tuesday, I scoured Hollywood Video for an obscure documentary - Unknown White Male - with zero success. So I was pissed. Then I stumbled upon District B13, which has the quintessential cover of a bad movie. The airbrushed leading characters have guns pointing in different directions, with urban chaos surrounding them. Already hot, a sadistic light bulb went off in my head. I thought, “I can unleash my outrage by ripping this film apart!” It can be cathartic, therapeutic. And it is about time for me to make some fucking noise on The Noyse!
The next night, stoned and drunk, I came across the DVD again; this time it was laying on the floor. So I popped in the DVD, my pen and notepad closely beside me. I was ready to do some serious film thrashing. An evil smirk crept across my face.
First off, I began laughing when I realized the film is in French! In the first shot, an overgrown rat emerges from a cracked wall. The camera then cranes up to an aerial shot of District B13, a sickening slum of Paris so frightening that a wall had been erected to contain the vermin and scum. Hard drugs are sold on the streets. Kids sleep in dingy corridors of rundown buildings. Street soldiers carry automatic rifles. Cool, I thought, but I’ve seen worst in downtown Los Angeles.
Then the action begins with a group of thugs chasing after Leito, played by a professional stuntman, for his bags of heroin. Leito jumps sideways on a wall, avoiding contact with the hooligans, and then crashes through a glass window above a door. Holy shit! And he appears on the other side-unscathed!
Okay, so that sequence was pretty intense. But surely, they can’t maintain that kind of excitement throughout the movie…right?
The next sequence takes place in an underground casino. During a police raid, we find out that one of the criminals is actually an undercover cop named Damien, also played by a stuntman. At first, he seems unassuming, because he is of average height, bald, and French. Nevertheless, when push comes to shove, he starts whipping the thugs’ asses-Bruce Lee style. Afterwards, Damien, with a guy draped on his back, somersaults from a balcony onto a casino table, breaking it in half! Now that is some serious fucking action!
Needless to say, my eyes were glued to the TV screen throughout the film!
Note that I have not mentioned anything about the plot. Well, rest assure, there is one. It’s pretty simple and clichd. It involves a sister attached to a missile that is set to detonate in a few hours, just like most action movies, I guess.
Surprisingly the film has a social message in the end. A year after District B13’s release in France, major rioting erupted in poor areas of the country, also called “banlieues.” Government ignoring poor areas has been well known for years. Just look at what happened a year ago in New Orleans.
So never judge a DVD by its cover. This film went from a potential laugh fest (though there is some sharp humor) to one of the most enjoyable films I have seen this year.
