La Haine
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| La Haine | |
 La Haine cover, with the tagline Jusqu'ici tout va bien… ("So far, so good…") |
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| Directed by | Mathieu Kassovitz |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Christophe Rossignon |
| Written by | Mathieu Kassovitz |
| Starring | Vincent Cassel Hubert Koundé Saïd Taghmaoui |
| Music by | Assassin |
| Cinematography | Pierre Aïm |
| Editing by | Mathieu Kassovitz Scott Stevenson |
| Distributed by | Canal+ |
| Release date(s) | May 31, 1995 |
| Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Budget | 15 million F (2.3 million €) |
La Haine (French pronunciation: [la ɛːn] "hatred") is a French black-and-white film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, released in 1995. It is released under its French title in the English-speaking world, although its American VHS release was entitled Hate. It is about three teenage friends and their struggle to live in the banlieues of Paris. The title derives from a line spoken by one of them, Hubert: "La haine attire la haine!", "hatred breeds hatred."
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[edit] Plot
The film focuses on a single day in the lives of three young friends in an impoverished multi-ethnic housing project (a ZUP - zone à urbaniser en priorité) in the aftermath of a riot. Vinz (Vincent Cassel), who is Jewish, is filled with rage. He sees himself as a gangster ready to win respect by killing a cop, and models himself after Travis Bickle from the film Taxi Driver. Saïd - Sayid in some English subtitles - (Saïd Taghmaoui) is a happy and talkative Maghrebin who tries to find middle ground between his two friends' response to life. Hubert (Hubert Koundé) is an Afro-French boxer and drug dealer. The quietest of the three, he sadly contemplates the ghetto and the hate around him. He is probably the only one who has a minimum of consciousness about the state of things. He wants to simply leave this decadent world of violence and hate behind him but does not know how since he lacks the means to do so.
A friend of theirs, Abdel Ichaha, has been brutalized by the police shortly before the riot and lies in a coma. Vinz finds a policeman's revolver, lost in the riot. He vows that if their friend dies from his injuries, he will use it to kill a cop.
The three go through their routines and struggle to entertain themselves, frequently finding themselves under police scrutiny. They take a train to Paris but encounter many of the same frustrations - as well as a group of skinheads looking to fight. Vinz's gun allows him to break up the fight and briefly bludgeon a skinhead (portrayed by Kassovitz himself).
After being forced to spend the night in a train station, the trio returns to their banlieue, and Vinz gives the gun to Hubert. Once again they encounter the police, who are eager to brutalize them in response to a previous confrontation. As one of the policemen holds Vinz against his vehicle and taunts him, his gun accidentally goes off, killing Vinz instantly. Hubert and the policeman each point their guns at each other, and as the film fades to black, one fires.
[edit] Production
Kassovitz has said that the idea came to him when a young Zairian, Makome M'Bowole (sometimes also named as Makomé Bowole), was shot in 1993. He was killed at point blank range while in police custody and handcuffed to a radiator. The officer was reported to have been angered by Makomé's words, and had been threatening him when the gun went off accidentally.[1]
The majority of the filming was done in the Paris suburb of Chanteloup-les-Vignes.
[edit] Video releases
La Haine was available on VHS in the United States, but was not released on DVD until the Criterion Collection released a 2-disc edition in 2007. The film has been shown on many Charter Communications Channels. Both HD DVD and Blu-ray versions have also been released in Europe.
[edit] Awards
- Best Director (Cannes Film Festival) - Mathieu Kassovitz
- Best Editing (César Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz and Scott Stevenson
- Best Film (César Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
- Best Producer (César Awards) - Christophe Rossignon
- Best Young Film (European Film Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
- Best Foreign Language Film (Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards)
- Best Director (Lumiere Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
- Best Film (Lumiere Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- La Haine at the Internet Movie Database
- Stanford University Review
- Working Class France..." POV by Matthieu Kassovitz about the 2005 riots in France
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Wild Reeds |
César Award for Best Film 1996 |
Succeeded by Ridicule |
