Vincent Cassel

Hubert Koundé

Saïd Taghmaoui

Abdel Ahmed Ghili

Solo

Joseph Momo

Héloïse Rauth

Rywka Wajsbrot

Olga Abrego

Laurent Labasse

Choukri Gabteni

Nabil Ben Mhamed

Benoît Magimel

Médard Niang

Arash Mansour

Abdel-Moulah Boujdouni

Mathilde Vitry

Christian Moro

Édouard Montoute

JiBi

Félicité Wouassi

Fatou Thioune

Thang-Long

Cut Killer

Sabrina Houicha

Sandor Weltmann

François Levantal

Julie Mauduech

Karin Viard

Peter Kassovitz

Christophe Rossignon

Vincent Lindon

Mathieu Kassovitz

Anthony Souter

Florent Lavandeira

Teddy Marques

Samir Khelif

Tadek Lokcinski

Virginie Montel

Andrée Damant

Marcel Marondo

Karim Belkhadra

Marc Duret

Eric Pujol

Philippe Nahon

Sébastien Tavel

François Toumarkine

José Dalmat

Zinedine Soualem

Bernie Bonvoisin

Cyril Ancelin

Patrick Médioni

Pierre Aïm

Scott Stevenson

Gilles Conseil

Assassin

Giuseppe Ponturo

Dominique Dalmasso

Antoine Simkine

Georges Diane

Jacques Monge

Guy Ferrandis

Jean-Claude Lother

Mikaël Monod

Marie Spencer

Axel Cosnefroy

Hervé Lodé

Emmanuel Ughetto

Dominique Vieillard

Stratos Gabrielidis

Vincent Tulli

Richard Guille

Abdelnabi Krouchi

Jean-Louis Laher

Nathalie Vierny

Ludovic Bernard

Jean-Claude Barny

Adeline Lecallier

Alain Rocca

Gilles Sacuto

Sophie Quiédeville

Thierry Artur

Laure Darie

Sylvie Randonneix

Armelle Bayle

Sophie Benaiche

Nathalie Chemouny

Pierre Foury

Philippe Guégan

Bernard Chevreul

Mohammed Enahal

Christian Hening

Abdel Halim

Pascal Guégan

Vincent Blasco

Alexander Bugel

Nicolas Becker

Dominique Colin

Drama

La Haine

Kasso Productions

La Sept Cinéma

Les Productions Lazennec

Canal+

StudioCanal

France

Français

neo-nazism

police brutality

hip-hop

paris, france

socially deprived family

breakdance

ghetto

male friendship

racism

xenophobia

day in a life

paris suburb

Matthieu Kassowitz's La Haine (Hate) is a portrait of youth disenfranchisement and the ensuing rage set in the public housing projects outside Paris. Before this film was released, many foreign viewers knew only the well-dressed, white, reserved and educated France depicted in e.g. films of the 1960s New Wave. Even many French people were unaware of the darker undercurrents of their own society, as no film had dared to handle this subject matter before. La Haine was a bombshell. While shot in 1995, it remains entirely topical today, as riots have continued to make the news in recent years.

La Haine follows one day in the lives of three young men of different ethnic backgrounds all born and raised in one particular housing project: the aggressive Jew Vinz (Vincent Cassell), the insecure, clownish Arab Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) and the more level-headed, pensive sub-Saharan African Hubert (Hubert Koundé). The film opens on a spring morning, in the aftermath of a riot which has rocked these youths' housing project. Some cars and buildings are destroyed, and the news reports that a police officer has lost his gun in the chaos of the night before. During the 24-hour period before the film's shocking ending, this trio tours the bittersweet environment of their housing project (violence and poverty on one hand, loving families on the other) and, in an effort to pick up money owed to them, they navigate the alien environment (rich, educated, white) of downtown Paris.

This is not only a revelatory film in showing viewers a side of France they had never seen before, but it is also extremely entertaining. The performances by these relatively unexperienced actors are totally convincing, Vincent Cassell in particular. Kassowitz shuns his country's own film tradition and instead sculpts the action under inspiration from the USA. However, the "urban", "hip-hop" aesthetic he employs does not lower the film to the more vacuous Hollywood productions but instead is at the level of Spike Lee and Scorsese. The director's decision to print the film in black and white has imbued it with a gravitas that makes it timeless. That said, in spite of the fine acting and ethnographic detail, the plot itself is rather mundane, which holds me back from giving this too high a rating.

CinemaSerf

It's not so much the individual acting with this that stands out, it is the collective effort of all concerned to demonstrate to us just how perilous life can be on their Parisian suburban housing estate. Riots the evening before we arrive on the scene have left the area in a state of almost acute nervous exhaustion. The police are treading on egg shells and the community is a tinder box. To add to the volatility, a police officer lost his gun the night before and one of the locals "Vinz" (Vincent Cassel) has vowed to avenge himself on another officer should his currently hospitalised friend "Abdel" die. It transpires quite quickly that "Abdel" was severely injured as a result of an interrogation at a police station, and is now in a coma. You can just imagine the effect that has had on this otherwise mistrusting and suspicious community. Director Matthieu Kassovitz has created a monster here. It's poignant and angry, evocative and terrifying. As this fateful day turns to night and "Vinz" with his two friends "Said" (Saïd Taghmaoui) and aspiring boxer "Hubert" (Hubert Koundé) head downtown things take a turn for the worst with yet more tragic results. It is not an easy film to watch this, but it is compelling and as a sad indictment of urban living and (in)tolerance, it is very effective.

Very, very good movie!

'La Haine' is interesting slice of life viewing, I was intrigued across the whole 90 or so minutes as it tells its tale nicely. Some of the cinematography (b/w, smart choice) and editing is particularly impressive, while the ending is stark and unforgettable. The intentions of the film come across loud and clear.

I didn't overly connect with the main trio, aside from Hubert. I could also sense that something was on the horizon (didn't see it going exactly that way, mind) from early on, so you kinda are just sitting there waiting for the penny to drop - but there's no doubting the film successfully keeps you on tenterhooks.

The characters are a bit meh in terms of wanting to watch them, though the actors who play them are excellent - without question. Hubert Koundé is the one I'll likely remember most, even with still noteworthy performances from Vincent Cassel and Saïd Taghmaoui; two actors I have seen in a few English-language flicks down the years.

La Haine( 1995)

How far you fall doesn't matter, it's how you land…

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A review by CRCulver

Written by CRCulver on Sat Sep 01 2018

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