341. La Haine; movie review
LA HAINE
Cert 15
96 mins
BBFC advice: Contains strong language, violence, drug misuse
For all of the beauty of its countryside and its wonderful historic buildings, France has always been beset by political unrest.
Currently, it is bleeding from the attacks by religious extremists who seem to believe ordinary people are a fair target for their callous terrorism.
But discontent has bubbled under the surface and occasionally exploded on to the streets since the French Revolution.
La Haine offers a very realistic reflection of the simmering tensions in a suburb of Paris where many immigrant families live.
Director Mathieu Kassovitz began writing La Haine after a young African man from died while under arrest.
The movie plays out the day after the shooting of the son of an immigrant family by police during rioting by disaffected young people.
It concentrates of three friends, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Koundé) and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) who find themselves headbutting establishment, sometimes willingly and occasionally because it seeks them out with no reason.
It has many memorable scenes but one of its more shocking is when experienced police officers beat and throttle Hubert and Saïd in front of a trainee cop.
It struck me that both sides had lost their humanity because they turned to aggression as a means of self-preservation.
Thus, the police who probably joined the force with noble intent, saw themselves as being at war with the very people they should be protecting.
And the disenfranchised were making themselves almost impossible to help.
At the heart of this is Cassel's character who sees a gun as a status symbol without fully realising how much its possession ups the ante.
It is worth highlighting Cassel for whom La Haine was the springboard for a career as one of the world's finest (and one of my favourite) actors. There are echoes of a young Marlon Brando in his performance.
That and much more make La Haine a must-see.
Reasons to watch: Great acting and as relevant today as it was in the 90s
Reasons to avoid: Too gritty for some, I suspect.
Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 9/10
Did you know? Real police officers were highly offended by how their police counterparts were portrayed in the movie. During the Cannes film festival premiere, they 'greeted' the arriving cast and crew by turning their backs to them in protest. Despite this, the movie received a standing ovation from the crowd afterwards.
The final word. Mathieu Kassovitz: "Im very proud of La Haine – it encourages kids who were not there. I get 15-year-old kids coming up to me every day talking about the film. I have to recognise that, and I’m very proud of that. Because that’s what you want when you’re a director, you want to inspire, and to know that your movie is not forgotten." BFI
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