La Haine Analysis

The film is made in 2005 and directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, it follows 24 hours in the lives of three Parisian teenagers who come from a “Ghetto” in the French suburbs. It shows their interactions with a Racist and oppressive police force, after their friend Abdel is sent to hospital at the police’s hands a riot ensues. This is the catalyst for the events to come as Vinz finds a police offers lost gun and vows to “Kill a cop” should his friend die due to the beating he received by the police. La Haine stands as a portrait of a broken social system and acts as a social commentary to the events and the tension within France as a whole. The story has two perspectives, although the three main characters are criminals you can identify with their struggle due to the polices apparent corruption, this makes Vinz vow to kill any cop seem more fair as by his judgement the police treat them the same way, indiscriminately being aggressive and violent toward them; he feels justified to treat them the same way.

The black and white colour pallet of the film is clearly an artistic choice, a commentary perhaps, to show the similarities between the boys as in this form skin colour is less pronounced and shows that we are all the same at the root of it. In my opinion the black and white doesn’t particularly enhance the film as it does not allow me to appreciate the cinematography to a greater degree as one facet of inspection is not present and makes it hard for me to compare similar shots in other films to this one, colour for me is important as I feel it enhances a film; which is why it is the more popularly chosen maiden for modern film. All though with this film the colour is less necessary as it also tells of the dreary grey and white cement buildings they live in.

There is strong characterization throughout the film and this is ever present in the changing of the character over time, once the shocking news report comes out about Abdel’s death Vinz uses his murderous rage to confront a gang of Skinheads that have attacked his friends. He hold a gun to one’s head and drags him down an alley, the scene that follows shows how the character has evolved over the course of the film. There is great emotional build up as the skinhead begs for his life, the camera flicks between Vinz and the skinhead, their faces mirrored of each other as they both are twisted with fear.

In conclusion the film shows the broken system present within Paris, and leaves us with the question of has it changed?