When it finally erupts, it’s genuinely shocking, with an ending that carries a massive jolt even if you’re expecting it. While it’s frequently very funny, there’s something much darker below the surface.
There’s not much actual on-screen violence, but it’s saturated by the threat of it. Saïd is somewhere in between: disrespectful but watching hopelessly as events around him spiral out of control. Vinz operates on a hair-trigger, his violent temper frequently landing him in trouble. The film has little plot as such: most of the time, we get to know our three central characters. La Haine takes place in less than twenty-four hours, during which the three take a trip to the city centre and miss the train home. When real riots broke out in France, ten years after this film was made, it seemed uncannily prescient. It’s not the fall that kills but the landing. The central image of the film is of a man falling from a high building and saying “Okay so far” because he has yet to hit the ground.
Every so often director Kassovitz cuts to a time caption. La Haine (Hate) may seem schematic at first in having its three lead characters from three different ethnic groups, but it’s quite clear that they are equally “other”, especially to the white skinheads they meet more than once. Instead of well-heeled middle-classness (with more than a hint of complacency) you have the areas where society fractures – the sink estates populated by the underclass, the areas where you don’t go out alone after dark, and where you have no business going to as a visitor. As an Arab boy lies in a critical condition, the atmosphere is tense for friends Vinz (Vincent Cassel), a white Jew, Hubert (Hubert Koundé) who is Black, and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui), who is of Arab descent.Īs Keith Reader points out in an essay originally from Sight & Sound in 1995 and which is reprinted in this edition’s booklet, to the French “banlieue” carries quite a different connotation to that which “suburbia” would have to the English. In a suburb of Paris, it’s the day after a riot. Standout tracks include the jazzy instrumental "Say It Over and Over Again" by the John Coltrane Quartet and Les Little's French hip-hop number "Je Ne Voic Que Moi." This is not just a CD for the fans of La Haine and Kassovitz anyone with a penchant for something a little different is sure to enjoy it.Hardly dated at all, La Haine gets a twenty-fifth anniversary Blu-ray edition from the BFI. The Matisse lineup is not quite as strong, but it's not bad either and packs plenty of variety. Surprisingly, that fetching remix of Edith Piaf's "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," which livens up the dreary ghetto halfway through the film, is not found on the CD. Other fine tunes include such old-school funk numbers as "Outstanding" by the Gap Band and "More Bounce to the Ounce" by Zapp & Roger.
Classics like Bob Marley's "Burnin' and Lootin" as well as Isaac Hayes' "That Loving Feeling" need no commentary. The first seven tracks on the record are from La Haine. Although touted as the soundtrack to Mattheu Kassovitz's excellent French film La Haine (Hate), it also includes the music played in his earlier movie, Matisse. If you enjoy "two for one" price deals, then this album should put a smile on your face.
0 kommentar(er)
