I would argue that if you want to understand Black Lives Matter, watch La Haine. It exposes the gap between rich and poor highlights the racism that consigned those from marginalised backgrounds to live in concrete blocks in suburbs – or banlieues – on the outskirts of the French capital and, most resonantly right now, depicts the police as instruments of brutality set up to protect the rich white elites. Covering 24 hours in the life of three men from immigrant families – one black, one Arab, and one Jewish – it stands as an indictment of the worst aspects of French, and more broadly Western, democratic society. However, as is so often the case with the greatest films, La Haine only seems to get even better with each passing year. – Five stars for Charlie Kaufman’s latest A searing study of working-class Parisian youth living in the city’s housing projects, it earned rave reviews, with Variety calling it “an extremely intelligent take on an idiotic reality” and the then 27-year-old Mathieu Kassovitz winning Best Director for what was only his second film. Laura I, a grade twelve student at Fredericton High, is a self-styled aficionado of films depicting intolerance towards minorities, and La Haine is one of her favourite films.When La Haine premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995, it made an immediate impact. With gifted actors, handsome visuals, and a powerful account of the struggles of immigrant people against social prejudice, Mathieu Kassovitz’s La Haine is a chef d’oeuvre that appeals to everyone’s sense of justice. The film is powerful and yet, remarkably objective in its exposition of the segregation and discrimination in the lives of so many and the conclusion is jaw dropping, breathtaking in its delivery and leaves your hair standing on end. It’s a masterpiece of underground cinema and social commentary. La Haine has been well received by critics around the world. The funky and ambient urban soundtrack adds to the film’s convincing portrayal of street youth. The soundtrack is diegetic, provided through the characters as part of the narrative of the film. Perhaps most strikingly, Kassovitz uses real footage from Parisian riots in the 80s and 90s, which reinforces the film’s status as a powerful social commentary. The camera work is quirky, with its many lengthy scenes occasionally shifting focus onto minute details, bringing a mesmerizing depth to the film.
La Haine is captured beautifully in black and white, using stark contrast and drawn out scenes with few transitions, techniques which highlights the film’s grim subject matter. The film pits a romanticized image of Paris against the dark reality experienced by many of its marginalized inhabitants. At a time where institutionalized racial discrimination is all too commonplace in France, Mathieu Kassovitz was not afraid to expose this reality. Mathieu Kassovitz, as writer, director and co-editor of La Haine, performs an impossible feat – presenting a powerful, profoundly intelligent film about intolerance and humanity that appeals to people from all walks of life. They are believable in their roles and show phenomenal depth. The actors in La Haine do an extraordinary job at portraying dynamic, three-dimensional characters. He provides comic relief throughout the film and is the intermediary of the group, often coming between the opposing values of Vinz and Hubert, played by Hubert Koundé, a young black boxer and drug dealer, who is the thoughtful and practical member of the trio and wants simply to escape the vicious cycle of meaningless violence in the projects. Saïd is an animated and witty young Arab, played by Saïd Taghmaoui. Vincent Cassel plays Vinz, a nonchalant highschool dropout of Jewish descent with a stolen gun and a penchant for violence. A profoundly honest film, it brings to light the institutionalized discrimination faced by many immigrants in France and questions the relationship between police authority and marginalized youth. The three friends are angry with the way police have treated them and seek revenge for their friend and for their situation, which sets the tone for the rest of the movie. The story is told after a recent, brutal riot driven by intolerance towards immigrants, in which one of their friends was shot by a police officer. La Haine tells the story of a day in the lives of three multi-ethnic friends living in a Parisian low income housing project. The struggle between three young friends living in the Parisian ghettos and the social authority of racial discrimination is examined in Mathieu Kassovitz’s controversial film. La Haine is a powerful piece of social commentary depicting the everyday life of France’s impoverished ethnic minorities.
0 kommentar(er)
