The story of "Les premiers les derniers" is the crime story of two bounty hunters searching for the mobile phone of a gangster boss containing valuable information.
The essence of the film is however the desolation of Northern France. This desolation was also the subject of "Ca commence aujourd'hui" (1999, Bertrand Tavernier).
In "Ca commence aujourd'hui" the desolation is ilustrated by people (pupils of an elementary school with problematic situations at home, for example alcoholic parents). In "Les premiers les derniers" the desolation is illustrated using infrastructure and buildings. In the opening scene we see an endless viaduct cutting through a flat landscape. It is not entirely clear what the original use of the viaduct has been, but it is quite clear it has lost its function by now. In the opening scene it is used as a hiking trail by two petty criminals on the run.
In the rest of the movie we encounter buildings we could describe at best as industrial heritage (and as slums if we are a little more honest).
In one of the most memorable scenes the lead characters encounter a deer with majestic antlers in an abandoned warehouse. The symbolism is twofold.
In the first place that of nature taking back territory it has lost earlier to human civilisation. In the second place the vitality that the antlers radiate and that the main characters are slowly losing.
The scene is beautiful, but is also indicative for the fact that the proper balance between story (rather thin) and symbolism (rather extensive) has been lost.
In two supporting roles we encounter Michael Lonsdale (85 at the time of production) and Max von Sydow (87 at the time of production). They deliver a very solid performance, in some respects even better than that of the lead actors. Given their age their performance deserves all the respect, but for me it is a sign on the wall when the supporting actors surpass the lead actors. Just like a pop concert were the supporting act sounds better than the main band.
