La Haine (Hate)

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Good, good. Let the hate flow through you.


Writer: Mathieu Kassovitz

"Wow, what a speech! Half Moses, half Mickey Mouse."

Written shortly after the french suburbs riots of the 90s, Hate follows the story of three friends living in the projects. What's great about this film is it's honestly and authenticity. In an industry full of shams, fakes and cheap tricks to suck money from the pockets of cinema lovers like myself, this is very refreshing. Kassovitz actually grew up in the project, and this movie was inspired by the murder of one of his friends at the hands of the french police. If you've seen the film, this is not surprising and actually explains a lot. How else could he write so naturally, so effortlessly the strange dialect of the french Bon-lieus?

Said, Vinz and Hubert wake up to the destruction and bitterness of the the riots of last night. Hubert, an African immigrant who owned a gym, seems disappointed but not surprised that during these riots his gym was torched. Vinz, a young and very angry jew, can't wait to tell the stories of how he fought in the riots (he even saw a cow). And Said, a young arab kid who is trying to gain some respect in the rough projects. What these three characters give us is three important elements of French society in the suburbs. North Africans and Arabs make up a huge amount of the population in these ghettos, with the Jewish community with smaller yet still significant numbers. It is not by accident then, that these three young men represent three different cultures are at the center of this film. During the riots, the police report that one of their officers lost they're firearm. Guess who found it? Vinz is committed to seeking vengeance in case Abel (the young arab who was severely beaten by police, and as a consequence hospitalized. His attack was the cause of the riots) dies in hospital. One pig for one brother. Blood for blood. The three visit paris, wander it's streets, getting into trouble, beating up nazis you know the usual. The plot is heavily influenced by a french new wave sense of slow wandering, an emphasis not on the actual peaks and lows of the plot but of the thematic content of these plot elements. What's interesting is that, unlike a lot of other french films of this caliber, the characters are not flat representations of ideas like paragraphs of an essay. These characters breath. They are vividly real, with moments of pathos, humor, joy and sorrow all punctuating different parts of the film. And yet they DO represents sets of ideas. Vinz, the ultimate symbol of class hatred, hot-headed youth fueled by the feeling that everything and everyone is against him. Said, those who deal with what comes. Those seemingly more interested in their hair, their own life their own family than other things. And Hubert, the young brilliant man, trying desperately to escape the ghetto while keeping his dignity intact. While this three perspectives are ultimately all under an umbrella influence of liberalism (more on this later), the three ultimately balance themselves out. The high points of the plot aren't the twists, the revelations, and it's not the end (although the ending is superb). It's the journey that counts, as cheesy as that sounds.

The direction of this film is absolutely stunning. With one of the best helicopter shots I have ever seen, that sequence is quickly become one of my favorite camera sequences ever. The images are bathed in shadows, light a dusty ambiance heightened by the black and white. You can almost feel the grit of this film, the very images radiate anger, frustration and a dark humor. From the desolate landscapes of the ghettos, to the stylized time lapses, this film just shines. Like the dialogue, the images urge to deep beyond the surface, to read (or see) between the lines. This some truly epic tracking shots that rivals those of Scorcese, the feeling that you are total there is pulled off wonderfully. Although there is very little action in this film (apart from actual footage from the riots, and a few other scenes), you feel as if the words are action. The dialogue is so fierce that you feel as if their words constitute a riot on their own.

The music is a poignant, meaning that it is largely absent and only comes in a specific time. The music allows the dialogue to take precedent above all else, and never the two compete which is a good thing. Music includes bits and piece of old school and new beats. The best part musical is when "Nique La police" plays during the helicopter shot. Unbelievable.

Last, but not least some analysis. It's rare to see a film that acknowledges the existing of the social war, much less creating a narrative of those actually participating in it. This war is seen as being fueled by the intrusion of the police, and colonization of poor people's lives through work, TV and pigs. One of the most telling scenes is when a reporter is asking the three protagonists if they were in the riots, only to be chased off. "What do you think this is, a zoo?" says one of them. Their lives are a spectacle, an event to be devoured by the media as entertainment, totally devoid of any meaning or social significance. This total alienation is a recurring theme throughout the film, and although I think that Kassovitz should be applauded for this, there are some limitations. The alienation is seen as, firstly, something new that has happened only recently. Secondly, it is seen as a sorrow, and not as a revolutionary potentiality. The social war, while evident in this film is put within a purely liberal context: Disarmament, on both sides. The basic premises of the film is that if this continues, this society will collapse, we can't go on like this, meaning that he does in fact WANT to salvage this system. Same event and condition, different perspectives or interpretations. This view is a historical, romantic (because a pathetic call of social peace is just that, pathetic). It is devoid of the realities of class, race, gender and capitalistic interest in the spectacle. Oh well, one can't expect too much I suppose. I can only sit patiently and wait for "social war: the film". (Which consists of a black screen that repeatably flashes "to the streets comrades!")

One of the most intense, interesting and and engaging films I've ever seen. You seriously MUST see it, do it.