- Title: District B-13 (fr. Banlieue 13)
- Year: 2004
- Rating: R
- Running Time: 84 mins
- Director: Pierre Morel
- Writer(s): Luc Besson, Bibi Naceri
- Cast: Cyril Raffaelli, David Belle, Tony D’Amario, Bibi Naceri, Dany Verissimo, Francois Chattot, Nicolas Woirion
District B-13 is a french action flick which manages to do just about everything right – an increasingly rare thing these days, most especially when we look at a genre given over primarily to spectacle and body count. It has a good pedigree, being produced and co-written by Luc Besson, a guy with a fantastic track record of delivering solid action films that don’t insult the viewer’s intelligence (La Femme Nikita, Leon the Professional, etc.). That’s not to necessarily say that District B-13 is the most cerebral of entertainments, it most decidedly is not, but the very few missteps the film makes in its plot are hard to notice, and even harder to mark against it, as it more than delivers on the promise of two-hours entertainment — and does so with a panache that seems, well, positively french.
The setting is the near future, 2010 to the film’s release of 2004, and the nasty outskirts of Paris — whole districts (banlieue) so overridden with violence and criminality that they are walled-off from the rest of the city, Escape From New York style. District B-13 is the worst of such places, though our protagonist Leito (David Belle) is a good man stuck in a bad spot. The sci-fi premise is crepe-thin — District B-13 probably does not really qualify as a genre piece — but it does lend things a certain dystopian and lawless edge that adds to the flavor.
Leito crosses the criminal kingpin of the district, Taha, and the opening scene of the movie has him eluding Taha’s goons in an edge-of-your-seat chase through and around and over some apartment buildings. Belle is one of the founders of the sport of parkour, a kind of momentum-fueled urban acrobatics that is incredible to see — and downright dangerous. Belle does his own stunts — including leaping from building to building sans wire or CGI trickery, and the incredible opener more than sets the stage for the remaining adrenaline fest.
Leito is betrayed by local cops, who man the barriers of District B-13 like a weary and beseiged army, and his sister is taken captive by Taha (played by co-writer Bibi Naceri with assholish charisma) while he himself goes to jail. Fast forward six months and we are introduced to our second hero, Captain Damien Tomaso, and undercover cop. The extended scene that introduces Damien is probably the coolest of the film, an inventive, hyperkenetic melange of gunplay and martial arts that puts comparable scenes in other films to shame.
Leito and Damien eventually team up, and return to District B-13 on a dual mission to rescue Leito’s sister, and defuse a ‘neutron’ bomb that has been highjacked by none other than Taha in full-on Tony Montana mode. But enough about the plot, the movie works as compelling spectacle because it takes so many familiar elements and elevates them to near Platonic ideal levels of perfection. The razor-sharp pacing and inventive choreography is enhanced tenfold by scenes in which the actual actor can be seen performing the stunts and fights — none of these quick cut and shakey cam gimmicks that only create the illusion of action. No, these guys do it for real, and the camera lets you appreciate every jaw-dropping move.
If you are in the mood for a pure, balls-to-the-wall action film, give District B-13 a shot.
