Aahana Swrup
The French Netflix film ‘Banger’ presents a comedy caper story about a DJ who gets roped into running undercover intelligence ops surrounding a popular name in the industry. Luis, the stage name Scorpex, is a DJ in his twilight years who has trouble reconciling with his faded prominence in electronic music circles. However, this ends up making him the perfect person to aid Officer Rose Espino in her drug bust operation, which requires a subtle entryway through some otherwise elite doors. Consequently, before he knows it, the washed-up DJ finds himself befriending the up-and-coming Vestax, the indomitable object of his envy.
Directed by So-Me, the film takes the audience through Luis’ increasingly outlandish misadventures, in which the DJ dances with danger to apprehend some big names in the local drug underworld. Even though Scorpex’s narrative primarily revolves around a criminal case, his methods afford the story a glimpse into the music production industry. As such, the origins of the on-screen DJ world remain worth exploring.
Banger is a Fictional Story About a DJ’s Wild Adventures
As a comedy, ‘Banger’ primarily retains a dedication to entertainment achieved through good laughs. Naturally, the story’s oftentimes outlandish dives into the overlap between the French music industry and the drug underworld solidly remain cemented in the fictional world. It centers around a National Intelligence Agency’s plan to recruit an old DJ, past his prime, as an undercover informant for another more successful DJ who is suspected to have a connection to a significant crime family. The premise in itself is more than a little offbeat and seems to share no direct basis in a real-life drug-bust investigation of any kind. Therefore, the story’s project BPM, or “Project Banger,” as Luis renames it, is a work of fiction credited to director So-Me and his team’s creativity.
Even though the film operates on a fictional premise, it sets up its narrative world within a plausible scenario. The stories of famous Western musicians and their alleged connections to crime families—especially the Mafia—have been a part of pop culture for some time now. From Jazz legends to the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, there are folklore and rumors surrounding various artists’ links to the underworld. For the same reason, Officer Rose Espino’s unconventional drug bust operation against Vestax infuses the film with a sense of plausibility. As such, the story’s reliance on the more eccentric plotlines—such as knife-throwing trivia nights and crime bosses with dedicated devotion to fashion houses—finds a grounded site from which to take off.
Scorpex and Vestax: Fictional DJs With Some Connection to Reality
Similar to the storylines that the characters inhabit, Scorpex and Vestax—the central DJs in ‘Banger’ are also works of fiction. The characters only exist to drive the storyline further, subsequently rendering themselves as elements within their screen-bound narratives. Thus, the closest real-life counterparts that the audience will be able to find are Vestax, a Japanese musical instrument company, and Scorpex, a scorpion-themed monster from ‘Power Rangers Dino Thunder.’ Inevitably, neither of these coincidentally identically christened entities has any connection to So-Me’s film or its characters.
Even so, despite retaining no real connections to reality, Scorpex and Vestax highlight aspects of the French DJing scene. There are numerous globally recognized club DJs from France, including Grammy-winning artist Daft Punk, the electronic music duo, and David Guetta. However, outside of these global names, the country sports many other locally popular artists that have made a mark on the culture. Scorpex, the old-school DJ, and Vestax, a new name who employs every new trick in the book for his sets—represent the diverse spectrum within this localized industry. Furthermore, in his secluded narrative, Luis showcases the bleak reality that might await musicians in the aftermath of their careers’ biggest swings.
Alternatively, even outside of thematic and storytelling resonance, Scorpex and Vestax have another connection to the musical arts. The actors portraying these characters, Vincent Cassel and Mister V, respectively, have certain musical credits to their names. Mister V, also known as Yvick Letexier, is a comedian and a YouTuber famous for his rap career. In 2017, the rapper topped the French SNEP charts with his debut ‘Double V.’ Since then, Mister V has continued to put out music, collaborating on mixtapes and with other rappers as well as country bands. Similarly, Letexier—although primarily an actor—has experience in multiple art forms, including singing, as evidenced by his feature on Zap Mama’s 2009 album ‘ReCreation.’ Thus, these connections must have had some influence over the actors’ performance, infusing their portrayal of otherwise fictional DJs with some sense of realism.
Read More: IBanger Ending Explained
