A thrilling and curious early film exercise by Mathieu Kassovitz that later formed the basis to his second feature film "Assassin(s)", the short film is all about the fears and dangers faced by a young man (Kassovitz) while receving lessons from his older brother (Marc Berman) on how to kill a person, in this case a senior citizen (Robert Gendreu) of whom we don't know anything about except that a contract for his death was made and the duo is set to perform the job. Max, the young man, is the one who has to go along with the task for the first time, a matter of great concern to this clumsy, nerd-looking type who never killed anyone in his life.

"Assassins..." isn't concerned in developing many ideas or show anything so eloquent about the obstacles faced by a professional assassin's relationship with his pupil. Rather, it's all about the situation they're trapped into, the whole suspense built inside the house and if the young man can kill a person or not, as we later find out the killing trade must be shared with another person to continue the family legacy. The experience might fall short to some viewers who expect some big spectacle or something highly original. I see it as a way to sell a potential feature film to producers and Kassovitz got his wishes done after the success of "La Haine".

As for the feature film starring Kassovitz and Michel Serrault, it's a great expansion of the short with more elaborated and crazed ideas (the brother was turned into an old killer who treats Max as his son). The whole short is there but played out more brutally and with some small variations. Both films work in their own special way and I liked both as they kept me in the edge of my seat just anxiously waiting for the next moment. 9/10.

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