mesrine: the killer instinct

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MESRINE: The Killer Instinct

Psychological Explanations of Criminal Behavior

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Mesrine-Part I (2008) /Elements

• The honing of war—torture in Algeria(Lombroso: soldiers, shepherds and priests)/1959-1961

• From the war-zone to the “civilized”-zone: JOB• “La dentelle”…Petite bourgeoisie, “Bel avenir”• Place Pigalle, Moulin Rouge –Paris’ Red District• The Lombrosian tandem:

Delinquent/prostitute ~ “Moral insanity”

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Mesrine-Part I/Elements

• Gambles his pay away• Gambling/narcotics/prostitution=remit of the

low-tenacity-violent quadrant of Veblen’s diagram

• Gambling: belief in luck, animism, erotic dissipation

• “Boulot au noir”: low-tenacity, hire me criminal subculture, established network

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• Starts at the bottom: burglaries• He is part of “Guido”’s (G. Depardieu) team: local

boss of a wider constellation, part of the MOB….• Itself with very solid political ties, OAS (

Organisation de l'armée secrète/ old school imperialists) vs. General C. De Gaulle

• “Boulot au noir”: low-tenacity, hire me criminal subculture, established network (“part” of the system…)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_de_l'arm%C3%A9e_secr%C3%A8te




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• Hierarchy is clear from the outset: Guido’s “wisdom”: if you’re lucky you’ll end up with “this” (mangy bar)…

• Toward a finer psycho-sociological portrait of Mesrine: low-tenacity, violent, macho but NOT GREEDY…One stock character of the underworld that he hates, which?

• The pimp… Gruesome execution, tinged with racism “arabe”…

• Unlike most mobsters he is not ATTACHED to life, the accumulation of money being the symbol of such attachment

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• Breaks with the exigencies of a respectable milieu bourgeois

• Does not go to work—no “slave to the alarm-clock”

• Insults his father, gives in to his wanderlust (Lombrosian trait)—can’t stand still

• WOMEN –eroticism, all kinds: from the prostitute, the easy ones, the demur type, anything he can seduce (dissipation)

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• LOVE– Janou (Jeanne Schneider), 1966-69– Joyce, 1970-1973– Sylvia Jeanjacquot, 1978-1979

• Career: from burglary to hold-ups (du casse au braquage)

• Cycle: 1962 in prison, caught—• Tries to go clean, Tabacoff’s workshop, artistic

disposition (erotic types knack for art)• Laid off, immediate relapse

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• Violent reaction against his first wife, Sofia: “…I will always choose my friends”…

• Psychopathy• Canada: result of his emergeing RENEGADE,

ANARCHISTIC bent• Gang subculture (Ohlin, Kubrin): from “criminal”

to “conflict” subculture—Bandit plays solo/no structure

• Yearning for HEROISM in a world that has left no space for the expression thereof

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• POLITICS/ Crime never happens in a vacuum:– FLQ: Jean-Paul Mercier– In prison meets Paul Rose (FLQ, Laporte)

• And they all have something in common…• The kidnap fails, and there is the Le Bouthillier

murder case, linked to his trajectory, which will never be solved…

• Apprehended in Arizona, extradited to Montreal, the myth takes shape, the media pounce on it….

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• USC: the infamous Unité spéciale de correction, St Vincent de Paul, Laval

• Lo and behold Mercier is there too• Escape was sensational…• But the single (double)-handed enterprise to

free all the prisoners was nothing short of legendary

• An exploit of pure heroism cherished by ALL [incarcerated] criminals, from low-class delinquents to terrorists

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• “On passe à la télé, Jean-Paul…la GLOIRE, la gloire…”

• Heroism, to be remembered• Now the icon is assembled: PUBLIC ENEMY #1• The media, us, have a natural hunger for such

types…• Interesting scene: the break-up with Janou

occurs in the [sheltering] office of a LAWYER,• Insulating conduit between the two worlds…

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• Which two worlds?• The upper and the lower barbarous ones,

divided by the tenacity-divide…• Then, he and Mercier kill the two rangers and

pass the point of no return…• To Janou: “No one gets me killed until I decide

it to be so”• Dehors ou mort(s)…• Embrace with DEATH/end of part I

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• 1970-1973: roves –from the USA to Venezuela, with Mercier and his girlfriend

• Eventually returns to Paris• Throughout this interlude Possibly shielded by the

remnants of the former OAS network• All in all this extraordinary exile had lasted 6 years—

long time to earn the mob’s forgiveness• 1972 caught; pulls off another pehenomenal escape

from the courthouse of Compiègne with the help of his new associate, Michel Ardouin (highlight of part II)

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• But that only buys him 4 months of freedom• Meanwhile the show thickens: enter

Commissaire Broussard, the SUPERCOP• The natural enemy of Public Enemy #1• Both tough, both ambitious, vain—respectful

of each other’s manhood• A total show• The paper are having a ball with this, of course

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• Broussard apprehends him in 9/1973• And M. ends up at La Santé, Paris’ High-

security penitentiary/sentenced to 20 years• In essence it is over—the jig is up• But then, possibly to cause an embarrassment

to the presidency of Giscard d’Estaing• 3/1978: His lawyer (most likely) slips a pair of

guns in the prison so that Mesrine may improvise one more, his last, evasion…

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• 1978-1979: the final act• Variety of shenanigans, robberies, obscure

political dealings• But mostly an absurd circus of publicity,

fomented by the media, which interview him in clandestine fashion, even though he is a supposedly super-dangerous fugitive

• The obvious finale: the grand ambush (possibly orchestrated by pro-Giscardian forces to put an end to the charade) at the Porte de Clignancourt


http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x767yq_la-mort-de-jacques-mesrine_news

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x767yq_la-mort-de-jacques-mesrine_news

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“The Bandit”

• Spiritual drift: Peaceable vs. Barbarous• Tenacity: Low vs. High• This yields 4 categories:– PLoT: The Dropout– PHiT: “The Engineer”– BLoT: The Low-Class delinquent/Don– BHiT: The politician/CEO/Techno-General

• And Mesrine?

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“The Bandit”

• Spiritual drift: Mixed, with far weightier leaning toward violence, “un fauve” (Sylvia)

• Tenacity: Decidedly low• BUT intelligent, artistic (fine writer, illustrator

and cook), dissipative, erotic, HEROIC (code of honor)…AND…

• DEATH-PRONE• The third dimension…Greedy vs. Death-

Prone

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“The Bandit”

• So may redefine our 4 initial categories:– Low-Class Delinquent?– BloT/G– CEO?– BHiT/G– The Engineer?– PhiT/G– The Dropout?– PloT/G

• And 4 new categories…

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“The Bandit”

• Consider:– PloT/D:– The terrorist (righteous)– BHiT/D– The Condottiere (Mussolini, Hitler…)– PhiT/D– The Martyr– BloT/D:

• The BANDIT

mesrine: the killer instinct

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