La Haine (1995)
Directed by Mathieu Kassovitz

Film Review

The 1990s was a good decade for French cinema, with some great internationally acclaimed successes and booming box office receipts in France.  But there is one film that stands out above all others for its impact, originality of style and success in tackling a major social issue head-on.  That film is La Haine, only the second major film of the young actor-turned-director, Mathieur Kassovitz.  Kassovitz was rewarded with the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1995 for this stunning film.

The fracture sociale, the problem of social exclusion, was (and remains) one of the great political problems of modern day France.  In this film, its writer and director, Mathieu Kassovitz, suggests that the problem is exacerbated by political ambivalence over racial minorities and unbridled hostility on the part of the police.  The situation is a tinderbox, with angry young men having no jobs, no money, no prospects, living in cramped, poorly maintained accommodation.  It can be no surprise when things flare up once in a while.

The film has a very strong anti-police message (a point which Kassovitz himself admitted - unpopularly - at the Cannes film festival), with some pretty graphic scenes of police brutality and provocation.   All this creates an impression of confinement and intolerance, which seems to legitimise Vinz's almost pathological hatred for the police.

Whilst the most impressive aspect of the film is its directness, its presentation of a major social problem in - literally - black and white lucidity, many other factors contribute to La Haine's success.  The camera work is impressive, often veering towards genius on more than one occasion, accentuated by some sharp and unsettling editing.

The central characters are played by unknown actors, with a conviction and feeling of spontaneity that gives the film a documentary feel.  Kassovitz's script and direction appear to be the work of a far more experienced film-maker than his 28 years would suggest.

Few films have the good fortune to succeed at virtually every level as a piece of cinema and still have something important to say about life.  La Haine is one such film.  That it achieved this on a budget of  a mere FF15M, without a single star name, is all the more remarkable.

Film Synopsis

This film follows one day in the lives of three unemployed young men who live on a housing estate in a deprived suburb of Paris.  They are Vinz, a Jew busting with pent-up anger, Saïd a talkative Arab obsessed with "getting laid" and Hubert, a well-built black man who dreams of being a professional boxer.  They mull over the events of the day before, when there was a violent confrontation between police and rioters, which arose after a young Arab was brutally attacked by a policeman.  Vinz swears that if the Arab dies, he will find a policeman and kill him.  He reveals that he managed to purloin a loaded gun during the riot.  The three young men spend the evening in Paris, killing time and generally making a nuisance.  When they return home the following day, they are picked on by the police, with disastrous consequences...