DISTRICT B13 – solid French action film with “parkour” and martial arts

[SamuraiDana]

What a pleasant surprise this movie turned out to be. (If anyone did a recent thread on this, I'm sorry to be redundant, but I couldn’t find one.) A French action thriller, with stunts and martial arts, DISTRICT B13 has a distinctly new look and feel thanks to its unique setting, a walled-off French “barrio” in the near future, and cast of multiracial French characters. (The original French title is BANLIEUE 13.) Luc Besson sure knows how to put together a nice mid-range action film, not too big in scale, not too low-budget, to make an audience looking for something a little different happy. I have to say I thought this film, which I watched on Magnolia's DVD edition, was better than Besson’s TRANSPORTER films.

“Parkour” evidently refers to the kind of stunts performed by the lead actor, David Belle, who leaps around pursuers using stair rails, walls, pipes, and whatever’s handy and climbs up and down building surfaces with great speed, doing the kind of thing that would get most of us killed or seriously injured if we tried it. It’s fascinating to watch. The IMDB page for Belle claims he invented “parkour” although a lot of it looks like the kind of thing Jackie Chan did so handily in his contemporary action comedies, like the POLICE STORY series, OPERATION CONDOR, TWIN DRAGONS, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, etc.

There are also more traditional martial arts sequences, including a scene where the second lead actor, Cyril Raffaelli, who plays an undercover cop and also choreographed the action sequences, fights a gang of thugs in an illegal casino (in the basement of a supermarket!) using fists, judo moves, acrobatic leaps, flying kicks and the occasional gun. In the “Making of” section on the DVD, they talk about “parkour,” but not about the martial arts styles that Raffaelli employs.

What bothers me is that, once upon a time, a film like this would have been dubbed into English and distributed to neighborhood theaters and drive-ins all over America. I remember seeing French action thrillers such as THE SICILIAN CLAN and THE BURGLARS in neighborhood theaters when I was a teenager. Why not a film like this? DISTRICT B13 played at one Manhattan theater for a week two or three years ago, not long enough for me to catch it, even though I was aware of it. If I had known it was this good, I would have made more of an effort to see it. But it should have gotten much wider play.

[The Dragon]

It's good.

[Rebornman]

i thought this was a pretty decent movie

[The Running Man]

Didn't like it. Story wasn't all that and there was very little action for a movie that was being hailed for it. Then you find out they cut some of it out. Very stupid of them.

[Guest LoBo]

I liked it. I look forward to the sequel.

________

The cigar boss

[Guest Markgway]

I thought it was cool.

[luckystars]

I thought it was only ok. Some great skills, but carried out in a way that made the film feel more like a showreel.

[Guest WuxiaFan]

SamuraiDana--I've had it on my wishlist for awhile, but I've wanted other DVDs before this one (like Angela Mao films LADY WHIRLWIND, THE INVINCIBLE EIGHT, and STING OF THE DRAGON MASTER). Anyway, I like Luc Besson and I loved TRANSPORTER 1 and KISS OF THE DRAGON (he was a producer), so I've been wanting to see it. Is Cyril Raffaelli one of the "twins" from KISS OF THE DRAGON? I thought he was the short one, but I could be wrong.

[Charuto]

My biggest thought about this movie, "Why was that rope there when he was escaping from those thugs in the beginning?"

FYI: You can find the sister in various porns.

[luckystars]

Transporter 1 and KOTD are both excellent films. Usually the Luc Besson/French co-produced movies are of high standards, which was one reason I was disappointed with District 13.

The Director of District 13, Pierre Morel, has a new film out called Taken. I'm really interested in seeing it as it's also written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen (both writers of KOTD).

Btw. He was also Director of Photography on Transporter 1 and Danny the Dog.

[Alex]

Is Cyril Raffaelli one of the "twins" from KISS OF THE DRAGON? I thought he was the short one, but I could be wrong.[/quote

you're right it is him

[luckystars]

He's also in Transporter 1, though they cut his scene short (reinstated on the French Ultimate DVD).

[AlbertV]

yeah thats Cyril, he choreographed the "hose fight" in Transporter 2 and recently did choreography duties for the upcoming Tekken movie.

[Chinatown Kid]

I've still got to check out some Ally McTyana(Lola)porns, she is retired from the adult industry from what I understand now. I loved B13 and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

[Guest WuxiaFan]

He's also in Transporter 1, though they cut his scene short (reinstated on the French Ultimate DVD).

I loved Transporter 1, and I remember the scene that Cyril was in, but it did seem like it was cut. I will have to check out the French version. Who's the distributor/studio that has it?

[GwaiLoMoFo]

I've still got to check out some Ally McTyana(Lola)porns, she is retired from the adult industry from what I understand now.

Ha, I was wondering who was gonna bring that up first. You win CTK!

[luckystars]

Transporter Ultimate Edition:

http://www.amazon.fr/Transporteur-Ultimate-THX-DVD/dp/B0009KMGBW

Maybe I was wrong though, I'm not totally sure Cyril's scene is inserted into the film. The following link says 'bus scene' but he appears between the busses...

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=3818

In any case the standard UK DVD had the extended fights including the bus fight as deleted scenes.

[blue_skies]

What a pleasant surprise this movie turned out to be. (If anyone did a recent thread on this, I'm sorry to be redundant, but I couldn’t find one.) A French action thriller, with stunts and martial arts, DISTRICT B13 has a distinctly new look and feel thanks to its unique setting, a walled-off French “barrio” in the near future, and cast of multiracial French characters. (The original French title is BANLIEUE 13.) Luc Besson sure knows how to put together a nice mid-range action film, not too big in scale, not too low-budget, to make an audience looking for something a little different happy. I have to say I thought this film, which I watched on Magnolia's DVD edition, was better than Besson’s TRANSPORTER films.

“Parkour” evidently refers to the kind of stunts performed by the lead actor, David Belle, who leaps around pursuers using stair rails, walls, pipes, and whatever’s handy and climbs up and down building surfaces with great speed, doing the kind of thing that would get most of us killed or seriously injured if we tried it. It’s fascinating to watch. The IMDB page for Belle claims he invented “parkour” although a lot of it looks like the kind of thing Jackie Chan did so handily in his contemporary action comedies, like the POLICE STORY series, OPERATION CONDOR, TWIN DRAGONS, RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, etc.

There are also more traditional martial arts sequences, including a scene where the second lead actor, Cyril Raffaelli, who plays an undercover cop and also choreographed the action sequences, fights a gang of thugs in an illegal casino (in the basement of a supermarket!) using fists, judo moves, acrobatic leaps, flying kicks and the occasional gun. In the “Making of” section on the DVD, they talk about “parkour,” but not about the martial arts styles that Raffaelli employs.

What bothers me is that, once upon a time, a film like this would have been dubbed into English and distributed to neighborhood theaters and drive-ins all over America. I remember seeing French action thrillers such as THE SICILIAN CLAN and THE BURGLARS in neighborhood theaters when I was a teenager. Why not a film like this? DISTRICT B13 played at one Manhattan theater for a week two or three years ago, not long enough for me to catch it, even though I was aware of it. If I had known it was this good, I would have made more of an effort to see it. But it should have gotten much wider play.

yeah it was a very good film and one that deserves a wider audience.

I also thought it was strange that they say Parkour was created by him. When I first heard of it I to thought it looks exactly like what Jackie Chan's been doing for years.

and I'm looking forward to the sequel.

Me too. Can't wait to buy the DVD!

[CrazyFrog]

The action in this movie is great and this style (however popular in Europe it may be) is still underutilized in action films in the US. But the plot was so weak it boggled the mind. SPOILER ALERT!

If they really wanted to destroy that ghetto with a bomb, why didn't they just remote detonate it???? I mean the clock counting down on the bomb is like almost 19th century state-of-the-art technology. Just an extremely stupid plot device to increase the tension.

END SPOILER

IMO the movie suffered horribly from that. It could have worked fine just by dumping the protagonist in the District and leave him in there to fend for himself. However, I will look forward from any work from Cyril, David Belle and company. As far as inventing parkour, yeah, well he has taken an amalgamation of physical feats and sports and created an urban art form, like skating. It obviously is derived from many things but Mr. Belle and others did start the "parkour" or tracing scene and have been promoting it ever since then. It is designed to be the most efficient way to traverse an urban environment by using the landscape around you.

Hey, you could say Jackie Chan invented kickflips on skateboards in the movie Wheels on Meals! Check it out!

[daisho2004]

OK I'm posting this now because I just watch these films the other night, and I thought it was a decent movie at best, but the end to me totally sucked big time. I thought the 2 Guys were going to take on the whole army of bad guys but instead all they did was run around car hopping and jumping off of buildings. I wanted more action!

[ShaOW!linDude]

Thought I'd just bump this thread rather than start another one.

Luc Besson wants to do an English version of this titled "Brick Mansions" and apparently it's in production.

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/10/afm-2011-luc-besson-prepping-brick-mansions-an-english-language-remake-of-district-b13.php

There's no present info on cast, choreographer, or director.

Anyone think he can top the original?

[blue_skies]

Thought I'd just bump this thread rather than start another one.

Luc Besson wants to do an English version of this titled "Brick Mansions" and apparently it's in production.

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/10/afm-2011-luc-besson-prepping-brick-mansions-an-english-language-remake-of-district-b13.php

There's no present info on cast, choreographer, or director.

Anyone think he can top the original?

Of course they can't top the original and in all likelihood will be lucky if the movie is just decent. I honestly can't see the point in remaking a fantastic movie like District 13. You know it's not going to have the same adrenaline filled action, hell they couldn't even manage that for the sequel. For the Hollywood production.

I know there are people that just won't watch movies unless they are in English but it's far better to encourage people to try and watch the original.

I wish Luc Besson would stop remaking his movies or those he produces.

[DrNgor]

It took me about 18 years to watch this, but here's my review:
 

https://abeautifulfilm.blogspot.com/2022/03/banlieue-13-2004.html 

[Super Ninja]

I'm convinced now I need to give this one another watch. Would you say Cyril Raffaelli is at his best in Kiss of the Dragon? 

Have that Wasted Life list saved, love the picks.

[DrNgor]

2 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

Would you say Cyril Raffaelli is at his best in Kiss of the Dragon?

On the whole, I think Raffaelli probably is more impressive in District B13 than in Kiss of the Dragon, if only because it seems that he was adept at mad stuntwork in addition to mad kicking.