Tuesday, December 6, 2011
La Haine
This film reflects the brutal reality of inequality in Paris. Three features of the film help to accomplish this with powerful results: 1) It was filmed in Black in White with actual footage of riots in the opening credits; 2) It followed three angry young males who represented the three leading ethnic groups in the banliues; and, 3) It was based on a single day (and night). Another strength to the overall message of the film was the ways in which the director left many parts of it ambiguous or open to interpretation. Two parts that exemplify this were the story of Grunwalski on the train to Siberia that the old man told to Said, Vinz, and Hubert in the bathroom and the Cow that Vinz saw. We already unpacked the first a bit. What do you think of the cow? Is it perhaps an omen that something bad is going to happen to Vinz? What was the point of it?
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I found the whole dynamic of La Haine really interesting, especially with all of the subliminal messages that made the film so powerful. The fact that the film was in black and white and the fact that there was footage of actual riots in the beginning made the film stronger and allowed us as viewers to follow the story beyond the cinematography. The filmmaker’s intent of making the three main characters all from different ethnic groups from the banlieues made the film both dynamic and definitely more interesting. I think the way that the film showed time was really interesting too – with the movie being over the course of 24 hours and the guys literally waiting around as the day passed. The passing of time was seen as the guys tried to occupy themselves throughout the day, but there were also a lot of interruptions in the movie that allowed time to be slowed down. First, the old guy in the bathroom who interrupted Vinz and his rant about shooting cops definitely created a pause in the movie that made both the characters and the viewers to stop and think. The same goes for when the three main characters went to Snoopy’s apartment. That scene was undoubtedly weird, but it caused the movie to stray from everything else that was going on and created a type of diversion. The cow that Vinz saw was definitely an interesting element. Personally, I can’t really decide whether it was an omen that something bad was going to happen or if it was just Vinz hallucinating when he was high after they smoked. I noticed a bunch of times throughout the film when there were sudden gun shots that didn’t necessarily have to do with the scene, but were used to switch scenes. I found this interesting but a bit confusing as to why they did it and I also loved the quote that they used in the beginning and end of the movie and how it related to how the movie ended. “So far, so good…so far, so good…so far, so good. It doesn’t matter how you fall, just how you land.” What did you guys think about the movie?
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything that Libby has already talked about. The movie was able to be very powerful without using a complicated storyline or setting. The movie did not necessarily look as real as a newsreel like in "Battle of Algiers" but with that said I think there was definitely a documentary feel to the movie. On the surface, this film could be taken as just following a day in the lives of three ethnic men from the "hood" of Paris but there is so much more substance to it then that.
ReplyDeleteWe see Hubert who represents the guy who wants to make something of himself.He wants to be more than just the stereotypical black man from the banlieue. But, we see as the movie progresses that Hubert can't escape from what the banlieue has raised him to be. There is Vinz who is Jewish and acts extremely tough. He seems to represent to me the pride of the banlieue. He is involved in every riot and makes outlandish accusations to anyone who threatens himself or his community. And then Said seemed to be the most innocent out of the three. He always was in good spirits and hung out with Hubert and Vinz but was always m.i.a when fighting broke out. We see this when his form of rebellion was doing graffiti on the police men's car but not participating in riots or when he hid behind the cop's car at the final scene where Vinz gets shot. It is harder for me to classify what Said represents. Possibly the innocence that is still present in the banlieue and the innocence that is forgotten about since everyone just assumes they are all like Vinz and even like Hubert. But even Said got rough with the ladies at the art gallery. So maybe this movie represents that you can't necessarily escape from where you are from. You can leave the actual location but the location can never completely leave you. It also doesn't help that every outsider treats you to a certain degree based completely on stereotypes. But could you say that is just human nature's need to put people in "categories?" Are we incapable as human beings to ignore the stereotypes and treat people as they are before we judge?
What has been mentioned so far, has really made me think this time around, being the second time I have seen this movie, about the deeper aspects here. The movie is very powerful and has a good initital message but when you think deeper as Celia suggested you begin to think about people and the way we act as certain "characters."
ReplyDeleteAs for the cow, I am not sure whether or not that is a hallucination or a hidden message, because that part confused me in general. Then again, it may be meant to confuse the audience just like it confused Vinz. The cow may be a representation of how Vinz doesn't really know what to do with himself and is sort of lost within the banlieue, which could be why he puts on such a manly front.
To address Celia's questions, I believe that human nature is to automatically put people in categories. As much as try to not to put people in them and keep our minds open, there is something about how we are that makes some sort of reference to categories. It may come from, for example, when we are young and they teach you fruits in groups, but no one ever really knows why the human nature is to categorize everthing, including behavior of people.
I think a lot of the intensity of this film truly did come from the fact that the film was produced in black and white. This gives the film a dark feeling that more clearly illustrates the fates that these young men truly face. I also believe that the fact that it covers a time period of 24 hours exemplifies the hard lives that these young men lead. It shows so many different challenges they face simply because of what they look like and where they live. These two factors effectively help the audience realize the inequalities and see how difficult it is for the people that live there because there is no escape.
ReplyDeleteGoing off of what the other have said it is hard to see Hubert regress throughout the film. In the beginning he has his head on straight and knows what he wants out of life and that he needs to get out of the banliues. He slowly falls back into the things he use to do that got him into trouble in the past, and eventually kills the police officer. I think that this just truly shows how easy it is for people to get stuck in a bad situation, the banlieus, and not be able to escape no matter how much they want too. He is seen as nothing and he eventually starts to believe it himself.
Throughout the entire film Vinz, as a character, carries a lot bad energy. We rarely like him as a character up until the very end when his tragedy becomes fully real. The stream of trouble he seems to put himself in, as well as his attitude towards it, is just the start of the build up into the final scene. At times the cow seemed to merely be a symbol of insanity, of Vinz loss of reality in such an isolated and lawless society, that only he saw. For further symbolism, it is interesting that Vinz not only sees the cow, but even runs into it at times, especially in times of crisis. Another powerful symbol that I appreciated in the film was the repetition of the billboard with "The world is Yours" on it and the time at which Said spray paints "ours" onto it. At times, when the boys are wandering the streets of Paris in the middle of the night, they feel on top of the world, uncaged, in control with their guns and their pride crashing parties and trying to steal cars. But the truth, the reality of their societal bondage, of the tragedy of their situations, is easily seen through this facade and the billboard seems to mock their inescapable reality and the lies the message tells them. Lastly, another powerful moment in the film was when they were waiting for the train and watching news footage on the giant screen. They watched terrible violence around the world flash across the screen and were even brought the news of their friends death in a simple, bold broadcast across the screen. The entire scene builds well into the talk on the roof top about "how you fall." This is why, when all seems to come to peace at the end of the film, you know something isn't right, somehthing sits uneasy in your stomach. Throughout the film, the director uses such symbols to tell us that!
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