John Woo meets Sergio Leone in Eric Rochant’s exciting, action-packed thriller set in the heart of the French countryside. Samuel Le Bihan stars as Bebe, the right hand man of a Paris gang boss, whose routine assignment of a drugs exchange goes pear-shaped when a trigger-happy thug starts a shoot-out. As the sole survivor holding both the narcotics and the cash, Bebe goes into hiding at a correctional centre for drug addicts and wild street kids. He might not cut it as a social worker, but Bebe certainly knows how to handle the bad guys when they pay an unfriendly visit. In this violent ode to the Spaghetti Western, director Rochant proves he can tell a complex story with clear imagery and little dialogue. He also elicits vivid performances from Le Bihan, Jean-Pierre Kalfon (in full-on Keyser Soze mode as the mob boss) and the veteran Jean-Francois Stevenin.

France, 2000.
English subtitles.
Colour.
Scope.
Dolby digital stereo.
100 mins.