The Movie
I first came across Parkour, or Free Running as it’s also been called, in the British TV documentary Jump London in 2003. It was an amazing film, charting the history of the sport/art as well as showing it in action around some London landmarks and I remember thinking that it would work well in a film. The highly successful French producer/director/writer Luc Besson had the same idea two years before me when he came up with Yamakasi (2001.) He only provided the basic idea for that film but in 2004, he returned to the sport this time coming up with District B13.
The French seem to have a thing for loose remakes of John Carpenter films; Florent Emilio Siri made The Nest (2002) that had much in common with Assault on Precinct 13, and District B13 is a French take on Carpenter’s Escape from New York. What sets these films apart from Hollywood-style remakes is that they only take the basic idea and use it as a springboard to create a new and exciting story.
The year is 2010 and the French government have walled in the most crime infested areas of the major cities. The worst of these is B13, though it’s not without its decent citizens and one such is Leito a man doing his best to clean up the streets he lives in. Sadly, the local Police aren’t looking to do the same and it’s Leito who finds himself in prison.
