La Haine (1995) [Blu-ray]
Drama

The Criterion Collection [Blu-ray]
--- Subtitled ---

Mathieu Kassovitz took the film world by storm with La Haine, a gritty, unsettling, and visually explosive look at racial and cultural volatility in modern-day France, specifically the low-income banlieue on Paris's outskirts. Aimlessly passing their days in the concrete environs of their dead-end suburbia, Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Kounde), and Saïd (Said Taghmaoui) - a Jew, an African, and Arab-give human faces to France's immigrant populations, their bristling resentment at their marginalization slowly simmering until it reaches a climactic boiling point. A work of tough beauty, La Haine is a landmark of contemporary French cinema and a gripping reflection of its country's ongoing identity crisis.

Storyline: The film follows three young men and their time spent in the French suburban "ghetto," over a span of twenty-four hours. Vinz, a Jew, Saïd, an Arab, and Hubert, a black boxer, have grown up in these French suburbs where high levels of diversity coupled with the racist and oppressive police force have raised tensions to a critical breaking point. During the riots that took place a night before, a police officer lost his handgun in the ensuing madness, only to leave it for Vinz to find. Now, with a newfound means to gain the respect he deserves, Vinz vows to kill a cop if his friend Abdel dies in the hospital, due the beating he received while in police custody. Written by b4arr2y

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov on April 15, 2012 -- Winner of Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Mathieu Kassovitz's "La Haine" a.k.a "Hate" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include original trailers; introduction to the film by by actress and filmmaker Jodie Foster; deleted and extended scenes; stills gallery; video conversation with sociologists sociologists Sophie Body-Gendrot, William Kornblum, and Jeffrey Fagan; documentary film produced by Studio Canal; audio commentary by director Mathieu Kassovitz; and more. The disc also arrives with an illustrated booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Ginette Vincendeau and an appreciation by acclaimed filmmaker Costa-Gavras. In French, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

An Arab boy is brutally beaten by the French police immediately after a massive riot on the outskirts of Paris. He is then taken into intensive care where his condition is evaluated as critical. Outside, on the streets of the banlieues, the boy's friends begin following closely the news reports.

Vinz (Vincent Cassel, L'appartement, Our Day Will Come), a working-class Jewish boy, Said (Said Taghmaoui, Room to Rent), a bitter but indecisive Arab, and Hubert (Hubert Kounde, Café au lait, TV's Braquo), a North African amateur boxer, are shocked. They wander around pondering what would happen if the Arab boy dies. They also meet with other ethnic youngsters who are visibly disturbed by the news reports.

While taking a break, Vinz reveals to his friends a secret - he has found a gun and has decided to use it. Said is impressed. But Hubert is enraged and, after a short discussion with Vinz, walks away. Said remains with Vinz.

A couple of hours later, the three meet again. They head to downtown Paris to visit a former friend who has started dealing (drugs) with the big boys. The meeting isn't much fun and the trio is soon back on the streets, looking for excitement. On the way home, they beat up a group of young skinheads. Eventually, a gut-wrenching act puts an end to their journey.

La Haine is a raw and gritty film appropriately shot in black and white. Archival footage recalling the Parisian riots from the early '90s is also incorporated into the film. The dialog is razor-sharp and colorful, imitating the slang used in many of the poorest banlieues.

With La Haine director Kassovitz delivered an uncompromising critique of a socio-political reality many Frenchmen were unaware of during the early '90s (his film premiered at a time when Jean-Marie Le Pen and his xenophobic National Front gained unprecedented popularity in France). Unsurprisingly, the tidal wave of anger and consequently fear La Haine unleashed in France was unprecedented.

The only other film to hit such a nerve in France after La Haine premiered was Jean-François Richet's violent and slightly more disturbing Ma 6-T va crack-er (1997). However, while its tone was similarly dismissive, its message was disappointingly populist. (The film was essentially an examination of the mechanics of violence rather than a sobering analysis of what leads to it). As a result, Ma 6-T va crack-er (1997) was not as far reaching and climate-shifting as La Haine.

Nowadays, La Haine is regarded by many European critics as a hugely influential film, one that changed the landscape of contemporary French cinema forever. Its unprecedented success at the Cannes Film Festival encouraged a number of young ethnic French directors to follow up the steps of director Kassovitz. As a result, a sea of similarly themed films (La squale, Petits frères) eventually gave birth to the socially aware banlieue genre.

Note: In 1995, La Haine won Best Director Award at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1996, the film won three Cesar Awards, including Best Film and Best Editing (Mathieu Kassovitz, Scott Stevenson).

Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine is a powerful social study that changed the landscape of contemporary French cinema forever. In fact, the film inspired an entire generation of young ethnic directors from all across Europe. Previously available on Blu-ray only in Region-B land, the film will now have its North American premiere via the Criterion Collection. As usual, the distributors have also included a wealth of outstanding supplemental features. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

[CSW] -2.4- Other than having grown up in a big city and being exposed to its underbelly and having already known the toll this takes on the personality and actions of the youth caught in this poverty trap, this was an excellent portrayal of that underbelly. But alas no matter how good a portrayal of it if one is already aware of this scenario and the many variations of it, the impression is not as poignant or dramatic as experiencing it in real life. With that said I agree with this review as it describes some of my point of view rather eloquently:
What I found most notable about this film was the portrayal of the dynamics and cultural milieu in the projects surrounding Paris. This was really quite fascinating, and, as other reviewers have noted, makes this a movie of "importance." I also felt the character development was really well done. Hubert Kounde was terrific, and even Vincent Cassel, who I usually find a bit hard to take, displayed a range and subtlety here which is often missing in his movies. Pity; it seems his on-screen persona was defined by this movie and he is now somewhat typecast to play over-the-top caricatures of it. The whole Odyssey aspect of the film, which Jodie Foster points out in her interview in the extras, discussing the film and why she arranged to distribute it in the US, is also quite interesting, and really lifts this above a rather predictable gut-punch tragedy of anger, alienation, and violence in the ghetto. I don't want to seem insensitive, but I have a really hard time feeling like I'm seeing anything terribly profound or eye-opening as I watch, with the obligatory sense of dread, the tragedy unfold where one lost gun meets three angry, disenfranchised boys. I can't help but compare this somewhat innocent feeling scenario to gangland Chicago or LA, where a gun in every pocket is more the reality. I think it is important to see and understand the conditions that breed hopelessness, anger, and disenfranchisement wherever on the globe they exist. But where this movie really brings something special to the table is in its portrayal of a particular place and particular people-this it does very eloquently. Rather than shell-shocked survivors, typical of the American scene, most of these characters still exhibit an almost innocent humanity, making the film that much more poignant. I would have preferred a little more of this and a little less predictable melodrama. Nonetheless, this is a well done and important movie, which deserves most of the acclaim it's received.

[V4.5-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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