New DVDs

The latest DVDs reviewed...

Mesrine: Parts 1 & 2 ****

Directed by Jean-Francois Richet. Starring Vincent Cassel, Cecile De France, Gerard Depardieu, Gilles Lellouche, Roy Dupuis, Elena Anaya. 16 Cert.

Using occasional split-screen and hyper-real lighting, director Richet turns his bifurcated biopic of French gangster Jacques Mesrine into a thrilling, morally uneasy ride. However, the film belongs to Vincent Cassel, who manages the tricky business of staying within the archetype while still allowing a new, characteristically French class of hoodlum to emerge. Gets a bit repetitive towards the close, but still impressive.

Fish tank ****

Directed by Andrea Arnold. Starring Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Keirston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths, Harry Treadaway, Sydney Mary Nash. 16 Cert

The latest slice of dreamy naturalism from Andrea Arnold, director of the searing Red Road, follows the deeply peculiar relationship between a troubled Essex teenager (Jarvis) and her mother’s latest boyfriend (Fassbender). The performances are all first-rate and Robbie Ryan’s camera casts a strange beauty on the most horrid vistas.