Film of the Week #75 - La Haine

Necronomicon

1995 French hit 'La Haine' (or "Hate") is a film I campaigned for once or twice during the old FoTW format.

It follows 24 hours in the lives of three friends living in French suburbs on the outskirts of Paris. Tensions between the residents of the area and the local police force are rising, which leads to a riot in which a local teenager (Abdel) is critically wounded. When the dust settles, one of the three, Vinz (played brilliantly by Vincent Cassel) discovers a gun that was lost by a member of the police force during the riot. He vows that if Abdel dies, he will kill a police officer.

When people talk about La Haine, inevitably they talk about the cinematography. Shot in black and white, it's a stark contrast from the romantic Paris traditionally portrayed by the movies. The acting is superb, particularly from Cassel who plays the voliatile, unstable Vinz.

I won't say too much more, there are better reviewers on this board than me, but I'm delighted to name La Haine Film of the Week.

johnny_ultimate

Great choice. Only got around to this recently and its a fantastic and vibrant piece of film-making. Its a film where you can really feel the tension spewing over, and has the vibe of a modern tragedy from the start. Also very funny though, with plenty of black comedy from the three characters at the centre of the story (Great young cast too).

Ending sticks in my mind: the ticking clock, the perfectly judged final shot, it all feels like the natural close of the narrative, and helps pull us back to reality after all the misadventures that came before it. A film packed with interesting social commentary, and as you said is very much a challenge to the typical romantic view of the city.

Good choice, definitely a deserved and long delayed fotw!

faceman

Great film, must viewing for avid film makers IMO! Beautifully shot!

Parrish_Crooks

GREAT film. Saw this in school first in transition year and I had never seen anything like it. As the OP said, it shows us a side of Paris/France that we never get to see. Loved it for that. The dynamic between the 3 main protagonists is very realistic and well played out. The soundtrack full of French Hip-hop also adds to the atmosphere. Just got the limited edition DVD a few months ago, 4 discs including the soundtrack!

Galvasean

Saw it as part of y college course and I must say it was a great piece of filmmaking.
For the reasons stated above (cinematography, acting etc) its a great example of what can be done for those interested in making a film of their own.

senordingdong

A great movie, it was shown to us in school and I had never looked for ward to the next French class so much in my whole time studying it.

The movie was great with the aforementioned cinematography being superb, but the 'day in the life' story of three lower class Parisians, all from different ethnicities, sticking together so well in such a racist, hate filled enviornment was spectacularly done.
The parts that stick out the most to me are the scene where they crash the art gallery party, and ofcourse, the amazing ending.

This isn't just a FoTW, this deserves a much more prestigious award.

REPSOC1916

Its a terrific film. I did it as part of my project for the French Oral. I really found the story about the guy in siberia really funny. Still the film was beautifully realistic and poignant. It really seems a bit prophetic of the situation ten years on in the banliues.

LolaLuv

This is a great film! I haven't seen it in several years but I really enjoyed it, so it might be time to give it another look.

tmax

Le monde est a vous nous!

Best French film ever

Vincent Cassel is so much better (and nastier looking) than De Niro in Taxi Driver with the "You looking at me" in the mirror scene

Nice insight into the ever-so-real dangerous types and social conflict in Paris

shrapnel222

REPSOC1916 wrote: »

It really seems a bit prophetic of the situation ten years on in the banliues.

Issues and problems with the banlieues have always been very present in Paris (and other big cities) since the 70/80s, there was nothing prophetic about it. The 90s is when it exploded and has carried on since. Great film though. the impressive thing was that kassovitz was as talented a director as he was an actor at such a young age.

TerrorFirmer

Good call, great film. Must give a watch again, last saw it years ago. Still have an old battered VHS of it somewhere.

shane86

Been a while, it was good but tbh I thought it slowed a bit and got a bit lost for ideas after they hit the centre of Paris.