Streets of Rage (La Haine (HD DVD))

Member Name: l-m-n-o-p

Product:	La Haine (HD DVD)
Date:	04/07/07 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Powerful, hard - hitting, thought - provoking drama with moments of humour too

Disadvantages: Quite violent?

The French riots in November 2005 shocked the world, and brought the condition of the “banlieues”, or ghetto-like suburbs which exist in many of the country’s largest cities, to the top of France’s agenda. Whilst the violence was pretty shocking, the most shocking point is that these problems are nothing new, and that the government has just turned a blind eye for years. Ten years ago, a young director called Mathieu Kassovitz made “La Haine”, meaning Hate – a film which tackled the banlieue crisis head on. I don’t really know if it was successful back then, as it was a bit before my prime, but in 2004 it came right back into the public eye when its bleak depiction of the problem came eerily true.

La Haine tells the story of three friends, all aged about 17 – one white Jewish guy, Vinz (Vincent Cassel); one Arab, Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui); and one black African, Hubert (Hubert Koundé).

The film starts with archive footage of riots in Paris, and once the film begins, we learn that one of their friends, Abdel, has been seriously injured and hospitalised after being attacked by a policeman.

They react in different ways – Hubert is training to become a boxer so that he can escape the poverty, and he believes that violence is not the answer. Saïd is a bit of a sheep – he just follows Hubert. However, Vinz dreams of doing a Travis Bickle, and his idea of a solution is to shoot a policeman in retaliation.

Over the course of one day, we witness what the three friends get up to in an estate where a lack of school and anything constructive to do leads to inevitable boredom, and we see how the incident and its aftermath causes cracks to appear in their friendship.

Tackling the issues of class, gun crime, and most of all tensions between the predominantly white police force and the immigrant population in the suburbs, La Haine is a raw, explosive film. Whilst the director’s anger at the situation is obvious, he doesn’t let the film turn into a simple good kids vs evil police story. Both sides are portrayed as brash and provocative, and Vinz in particular is deluded, violent and at times a total idiot.

At the start, I’d thought that the characters would seem distant and unsympathetic to me, but the director creates just the right amount of sympathy for their plight. Some of their treatment by the police is at times difficult to watch, and by the end you really do care about them, because they’re believable characters.

For a film tackling such serious themes, there’s also a surprising amount of humour in La Haine. The three constantly bicker and argue amongst each other, Vinz keeps petulantly (and humorously) answering back, and it’s all pretty natural - you get the feeling that these are just average kids hanging out and mucking around, albeit with a serious situation raging around them.

It’s also a really intelligent film, with lots of symbolism and metaphors and whatnot. The scene with the cow can be read on quite a few levels, and there’s a moment where this man tells them a story in the toilets which at surface level is quite funny, but if you think about it’s an interesting parable of their situation.

The quotation that I’ll always remember from this film is the story about the guy falling from the block of flats, saying “so far, so good” as he passes each floor, and the idea that it’s not about how you fall, it’s all about the landing. I just think that is such a powerful way of expressing the situation, especially when it’s used in conjunction with the unforgettable climax.

On a different level, it’s a really well-made film considering its tight budget. Shot in black and white to create some kind of nightmarish feel, it uses all sorts of techniques, from unusual camera angles and speeded up sections, to bird-like long aerial shots and a clock that appears at intervals to let us see the passing of time (used particularly well in the final scene).

It’s also really powerfully acted, especially from Vincent Cassel, who manages to switch between lovable rogue and scary, violent thug. The other two actors were pretty unknown (although Saïd has since appeared in Sleeper Cell and is starring in the upcoming film of The Kite Runner, and Hubert featured in The Constant Gardener) which added to the realism – either way, they all fitted their roles absolutely perfectly. Mathieu Kassovitz (from Amélie and Birthday Girl, by the way) even pops up himself as a skinhead.

If I had to criticise La Haine, I could say that the characters were quite stereotypical – the white guy, the Arab, the black guy – but this was intentional since it reflected the three major ethnic groups in France, and so it worked as a kind of parable for whole communities in general. Also, it’s pretty violent and there’s a lot of strong language, so I wouldn’t recommend it for kids, although it’s only a 15. Most kids wouldn’t appreciate it anyway; it’s a thinking film, not an action film.

Overall, La Haine is a brilliant, must-see film. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert, but obviously if you were shocked by the French riots or if you’re interested in French society at all, it makes more sense and it’s a more meaningful film if you understand its context. If not, it’s still definitely worth watching if you want a thought-provoking, powerful and unforgettable film.
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You can buy La Haine (Hate) for £6.95 from www.dvd.co.uk or £13.98 for the ultimate edition, comprising of 2 discs, the soundtrack, and a steel case (from www.amazon.co.uk). I’m reviewing the film only, not the DVD. Just if you hadn’t realised, it’s in French with English subtitles.

Directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz

Starring:

Vincent Cassel … Vinz
Saïd Taghmaoui … Saïd
Hubert Koundé … Hubert

Running time: 96 minutes

Classification: 15 (strong language and violence)

Year: 1995

My rating: 5 stars

Summary: A shocking and memorable look at the Parisian ghettos