Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Banlieue 13: Bust Out the Biceps
()
Paris, 2010. The French government, plum out of ideas about what to do with its crime-ridden housing projects, has surrounded them with a high concrete wall topped by razor wire. Drugs have taken over the ghetto. Except for one apartment block, where wiry Leïto is fighting to keep the nasty dudes at bay — even if it means stealing a load of cocaine and washing it down the tub.
That's when la merde really hits the fan. Because the thugs, easily spotted by their penchant for corny jokes and tacky jewelry, are miffed. And Leïto isn't easily caught. He practices the gravity-defying martial art of parkour, which enables him to vault over walls, leap between rooftops and shimmy up poles — all, apparently, without the benefits of strings or CGI or even mutant powers. Think Jackie Chan flexing his moves up and down a 20-story building. Now, LAist finds good car chase scenes amusing and rather handy for tips on how to get east of the 405 at 5:35 p.m. But we have to admit, it was really fun to see a film where the first big chase scene is on foot. It even made some of the heavy-handed elements of the plotline sort of digestible. Get this: Leïto is forced to partner with an idealistic cop, played by martial-arts extraordinaire Cyril Raffaelli. They discover that, even though they're from different worlds, they're both fighting for the same values! And there's a bomb — and it's about to explode!
But just before you start groaning, they're off again, cop and criminal bounding over vertical obstacles. In fact, parkour may really be the star of this newish film by Luc Besson, the French director and producer perhaps best known to U.S. audiences for his Bruce Willis/Milla Jovovich sci-fi flick The Fifth Element. Actor David Belle (Leïto) invented the sport, which he modeled after a French military training excercise called parcours du combattant. It seeks to find the most efficient, and creative, way of getting from point A to B — walls be damned. Belle and a band of fellow practioners called the Yamikasi took France and then England by storm over the last few years, thanks in large part to some hair-raising commercials. Parkour has even made its way to our Western shores via emailed video clips of Belle, spawning clubs, meet-ups and the slightly obsessed. One favorite local spot? The roofs of Cal State Northridge.
Support for LAist comes from
Visual arts non-profit Genart held an advance screening of Banlieue 13 Wednesday night. An English version called District 13 is slated for U.S. release in June. You'll never look at another concrete wall the same way again.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist