They didn’t stint on the stunts

THE stars of the French action film “District B13” aren’t exactly supermen, but they can leap across buildings, fences, cars and any other obstacles in a single bound.

One of them is martial artist Cyril Raffaelli, who has worked as a stuntman in such films as “The Transporter,” “The Man in the Iron Mask” and “Kiss of the Dragon,” in which he battled Jet Li in the finale.

The other is David Belle, a newcomer from Normandy who caught the filmmakers’ attention because of his skill at an urban activity called Parkour, in which participants try to pass both natural and man-made obstacles in their environment -- moving from point A to B in an uninterrupted forward motion, be it under, through or around the object.

“District B13,” which opens in the U.S. on Friday, has already found an international audience since its release in France 18 months ago.

“There is a craving for the kind of movie with real guys doing the stunts themselves and performing stuff the big stars don’t do,” said Pierre Morel, a cinematographer who makes his directorial debut with “District B13.”

Morel said that because Raffaelli and Belle did all of their own stunts, he didn’t have to employ the usual tricks of the trade, such as shooting a close-up of the star and then cutting to a long shot of the stuntman during the action sequence.

“We wanted to shoot things in order to see that they were doing those stunts and fights themselves,” Morel said. “It’s a different way of shooting. You just cover as many angles as you can, as they don’t want to perform it too many times -- because it’s exhausting jumping from one building to another. The more tired you are, the most risk you take, so we covered the takes with lots of cameras. Rather than hide the truth, we show the truth.”

Written and produced by Luc Besson (“The Transporter,” “Kiss of the Dragon,” “The Fifth Element”), “District B13” is set in Paris in the year 2010, when isolation walls surround ghetto districts. Abandoned by authorities, these decaying concrete jungles are ruled by gangs.

Raffaelli plays Damien, a member of an elite police squadron who has been sent to re-trieve a loose nuclear bomb stolen by the district’s most powerful gang.

To get into the ghetto, he is forced to team up with Leito (Belle), a vigilante criminal intent on saving his sister from the same gang.

The script was written for Raffaelli and Belle, Morel said, to take maximum advantage of their skills. And Raffaelli choreographed all the film’s rapid-fire martial arts scenes and highflying stunts.

“When we went into pre-production,” Morel said, “we went through the script and the scenes and I’d say to Cyril, ‘This scene has to be that long’ and ‘I need that type of action.’ He’d come back with lots of ideas. They rehearsed on video and together we made kind of a living storyboard, so on the day we shot, we already knew what angles and shots we wanted.”

Raffaelli spent 18 months training Belle in martial arts and stunt work.

“David from the beginning told me he didn’t know anything about stunts and action things,” Raffaelli said. “He completely trusted me and allowed me to do whatever I felt like.”

Miraculously, there were no major injuries during production.

“Cyril sprained his ankle on a small jump during rehearsal,” Morel recalled. “But they trained a lot and they are very, very careful because the main concern on the movie was to make them perform their stuff as safely as possible. We were careful with providing them with as much safety and time as they needed.”

The two leads were also provided with an acting coach.

“They worked on basic acting techniques,” Morel said. “And then we rehearsed a long time before we started shooting. They’re pretty good [in the movie], I think.”

“It was an amazing experience,” Raffaelli said. “For the first time, I was able to show my action skills and deliver the line before and after the section sequences. I was pretty much at ease during the movie. I love acting way too much and want to keep being an actor.”

Though “District B13” is set in Paris, Romania actually doubled for the bleak, war-torn ghetto.

“We couldn’t find the right location in France,” Morel said. “Fortunately in France, the neighborhoods don’t look that bad. Fortunately in Romania, they do.”

The filmmakers were also pleasantly surprised to discover that the Romanians would readily give them the necessary permits to shoot the action sequences. “In France, you go to the landlord and say we want kids to jump from one roof to another roof and the answer isn’t very welcoming,” Morel said. “You have to deal with the police and safety, and most of the time you never get a permit.”