By about two-thirds of the way through Gang Story, there’d be so much death I was wondering how there were any men left alive in France. Then someone mentioned they were from Armenia, and I realised that so many people had been stabbed, shot, drowned, strangled or otherwise dispatched, they were having to import people from other countries just so they could kill them.
Based on a true story, the film is about Edmond Vidal (known as Momon) and Serge Suttel and how the brutality of gang life affects their friendship from their youth right up into their 60s. Most of the film takes place in the 1970s, when the friends are high up in the gang world, with Vidal leading the notorious Gang Des Lyonnais, who pull off a spectacular series of armed robberies.
However gang life is not easy, and it becomes a battle for survival against other gangs, the police and each other, with your life potentially being snuffed out at any moment. The rewards are great but the brutality is shocking. The film jumps between their heyday and when they are aging men, with Momon having left gang life behind getting drawn back in to help Serge, which tests whether they really do have a true friendship or not.
It’s certainly an intense movie and packs a lot into its 100 minutes, to the point that it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of who’s killing who and why. And as mentioned there is a vast amount of death. I started wondering why anyone would get involved in the criminal life, as you get the impression in the film you’d probably have a better life expectancy on the frontline of the Somme.
However it’s a powerful film, with the violence and unpleasantness (I have no idea how the film managed to get a 15 certificate, as it’s very brutal) anchored by the friendship between Momon and Serge, which floats above the sordid life they lead at least until it is tested to its limits.
There is a slight feeling at times that the violence is almost pornographic but it works, as the film sticks in your head. Some have described it as the French Heat. I wouldn’t quite go that far, but it is an intense and rather ferocious film, which moves forward like a steamroller, killing anything that gets in its path.
The DVD release also includes an illuminating 50-minute making of documentary which is well worth watching to see how much of the film is true and how much fiction.
Overall Verdict: Brutal and absolutely filled to the brim with people killing each other, Gang Story is an intense trip.
Special Features:
Making Of
’ Featurette
Reviewer: Tim Isaac