RSS 2.0La Haine (1995)
I thought it would be a fitting idea that my first review for CoP would be that of my favourite movie of all time: La Haine. A film that has made a profound impression on me and which I consider a true gem in my DVD collection. Quite a claim coming from someone like me who dislikes comparing movies with one another, especially when they belong to different genres. On the other hand, I could not think of another movie that provokes similar strong emotions as this film does with me.
Yes, it’s a French movie, but besides being entirely shot in black & white there is nothing pretentious about it. The lack of colour adds to the intensity of the movie and cinematography and may as well be symbolic for the lack of a colourful life/future. The first time I saw this movie, I initially thought I was looking at one of those dramatised documentaries. Incidentally, that is the best compliment one could give this film. Its grim depiction of the Parisian suburbs and its haunting, depressing atmosphere are so realistic, one would believe the story and the characters to be true. Having seen and experienced this couleur locale myself only added to the level of realism and the actuality behind it.
The story tells about three friends who live in a dreary suburb near Paris: Vinz (played by Vincent Cassel) as the Jew with the short fuse, Hubert (played by Hubert Koundé) as the weary ‘black’ and Saïd (played by Saïd Taghmaoui) as the Arab who acts as a peace dove between the two and provides the comic relief. These three unlikely friends for-better-and-for-worse are followed throughout 24 hours of one day. Their friendship and personal struggles are painted on a background of violence, racism, bottled-up rage and the dismal situation of the suburbs. Next to their strong camaraderie they are bound by their unpredictable fate. The mantra throughout the story is therefore: “jusqu’ici, tout va bien” (up ’til now, everything’s fine).
Young director Mathieu Kassovitz received great critical acclaim, but was also fiercely attacked in his home country for his presumed police-bashing. This was provoked by his unflattering depiction of the French capital’s police force, in which he was more than merely brushing the surface of the actual situation. Academy Award winner Jodie Foster (who happens to have a degree in French literature) ardently championed the young filmmaker’s talent and helped him release his movie in the US. Next to good looks, talent and brains, Miss Foster also gives proof of excellent taste 
The issues dealt with in this movie are of this time and depict not only the brooding cauldron of racial inequality and the social problems in the suburbs, but also act as a warning for the future. The cast of this movie is virtually the same as the ‘prequel’ Métisse, which has a much more light-hearted tone than La Haine.
This movie is an absolute must-see, maxing out all the stats on my board: 
paco (89 posts)Certified movie phreak and conspiracy theorist.
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It’s on my list of “to sees” as of now – thanks Paco.
Comment by suzero — Mon September 15, 2003 @ 9:25A brilliant film! I don’t know if life in french big-city suburbs can be like this. But it certainly looks authentic. Even if you detest violence, it’s a must see. Maybe even more so. There’s not much real violence in there anyway.
Comment by reisneus — Mon September 15, 2003 @ 10:55A while ago. The English band, Asian Dub Foundation, played a fitting live soundtrack with the film being shown on a big screen at the same time. It seems to have been pretty good. Maybe some of it has been recorded, if so I’d like to see it sometime.
Comment by reisneus — Mon September 15, 2003 @ 10:59I agree. La Haine is a kick ass movie! Would like to have seen the ADF soundtrack for this movie (which isn’t bad to begin with
.
Is Metisse worth taking a look at as well?
Comment by punkmachine — Mon September 15, 2003 @ 13:20I can vouch for life being really like that in the suburbs, maybe even more depressing and menacing. What is very realistic is the slang they use: it’s called ‘verlan’ which is sort of an anagram for ‘anvers’ which means ‘reverse’. They tend to reverse certain words phonetically and thus create their own street-language. Understanding this really helps to appreciate the specific humor in this movie.
Metisse is a much ‘sweeter’ movie in which Kassovitz plays a lead role. It has virtually the same cast, so it’s quite fun all the same actors again. Maybe I’ll write a review for that one in the future.
Comment by paco — Mon September 15, 2003 @ 17:40Hey I didn’t know about this ‘verlan’. Cool stuff. Looking forward to your review
Comment by punkmachine — Tue September 16, 2003 @ 13:04Explains a lot. I know my french is terrible, but I was frustrated about understanding virtually nothing without the subtitles. So kind of a ‘Aha!’ moment here.
Comment by reisneus — Tue September 16, 2003 @ 17:16I’m a little late here, but does anyone know when/if this will be released on Region 1 DVD??
Comment by Carleen — Sun October 26, 2003 @ 6:16It’s never too late for a good movie
It has already been released on DVD R1 (see review) and VHS-NTSC. However, it is not easily found. You should consider looking under “Hate” or Kassovitz. On Amazon.uk I saw a region “0″ which implies that you can it region free.
It’s worth the search!
Comment by paco — Sun October 26, 2003 @ 15:16great film, that’s all I have to say!
Comment by Anika — Wed October 29, 2003 @ 22:57La Haine is a stunning film. Brilliant cinematography, superb acting and accomplished directing. Utterly captivating from start to finish this is a film I think everybody at film school should be shown on how to create atmosphere, style, energy and vatality with very little money. La Haine is one of my favourite films of all time. It’s such a shame that Kassowitz’s (Apologies for my spelling if it’s wrong) films since then haven’t had the same energy.
Comment by damian — Tue November 18, 2003 @ 15:33I justwanted to say that this film express the real life in french suburbs. I’m French and I’m from here.The life is getting harder and harder here under the pressure of the police…Please watch this film to understand how we ‘ve been living for many years…
Comment by Christelle — Mon December 1, 2003 @ 21:29and remember:
” C’est l’histoire d’un homme qui tombe d’un immeuble de 50 ‘tages.Le mec, au fur et ‘ mesure de sa chute, il se r’p'te sans cesse pour se rassurer:jusqu’ici tout va bien, jusqu’ici, tout va bien, jusqu’ici, tout va bien…Mais l’important c pas la chute…c’est l’aterrissage…”
For the guy who was looking for the Soundtrack:
http://etudiant.univ-mlv.fr/~dfaurel/tableau1.html
It s halfway down the list called “Musique inspir’e du film de M.Kassovitz.”
It s not the music from the movie but it s inpired by… sounds excellent though!
Comment by Manu — Mon January 19, 2004 @ 23:33To all who liked La Haine, I recommend Mike Leigh’s ‘Meantime’. Review of that coming at some stage in the not-too-distant future.
Comment by suzero — Sat November 13, 2004 @ 22:56I agree, La Haine is a very good film. I can’t help but wonder whether the producers of City of God pinched more than a few ideas from it.
My A level french oral presentation, I’ve decided, is going to be titled “Le film ‘La Haine’ et la violence dans les banlieues”. What I’d really like to get my hands on is a film transcript…?
Comment by Christina — Wed January 19, 2005 @ 20:50I once typed out the entire script of The Breakfast Club from the film itself. Lots of pause, play, rewind and cursing. Ah, those were the days before internet! But Christina, it’s still an option
Comment by suzero — Wed January 19, 2005 @ 21:33Well Christina, if you’re not native French, then I’m afraid there will be quite a lot of things that you won’t get. As I mentionned before, they speak a lot of fast street language and the aforementionned ‘verlan’. To give you an idea:http://french.about.com/library/vocab/bl-verlan.htm
You’d have to be very familiar with that if you want to understand what they say. Also a lot of ‘inside jokes’ which are only understandable for French people (like references to commercials and famous TV skits).
I wish you lots of luck with it.
Comment by Paco — Thu January 20, 2005 @ 1:42If you need some help with the difficult passages I may be able to lend a hand.
Suzero, never mind typing the words I can’t watch The Breakfast CLub or Weird Science with anybody else any more because I know EVERY WORD and find myself speaking along with it. Somehow John Travolta seemed cooler doing it in Get Shorty than I do.
Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?
Comment by damian — Thu January 20, 2005 @ 10:05Can anyone post a link of a site that they know of that has this DVD in Region 1 encoding? I have been looking for forever and can not seem to find this anywhere. Anyone’s help in this matter would be greatly appreciated as I am DYING to see this film after reading everything that has been posted!
Comment by Brian — Fri July 14, 2006 @ 16:42These guys sell a region 0 DVDr for $13, which will play on any type of player:
http://superhappyfun.com/product.cfm?whereme=1148
It’s also widely available for download.
Comment by ihatemovies — Sat July 15, 2006 @ 4:21i’m looking to buy the movie “LA HAINE” in usa, with region 1 or 0, i know already the movie because i was in france when that was in theater, that was WHOAAAA!!! at that time, they show the real life in france. Can somebody help me thanks. Luciano
Comment by Luciano — Thu September 28, 2006 @ 4:50You should go for the “10 Year Anniversary 3-DVD Box”.
It has cool interviews, behind-the-scenes footage and a CD with the movie’s music. You could try Play.com (that’s where I bought my region 2).
My advise: invest in a region-free player.
Comment by paco — Fri September 29, 2006 @ 20:42I’m looking for a full transcript of the film, but in the original French. Been searching – but no luck yet… Any suggestions? Thanks!
Comment by Roso — Tue November 7, 2006 @ 0:21I, too, am looking for a full french script.
There must be one out there!
–Laura
Comment by Laura — Sun November 19, 2006 @ 0:33I, too, am looking for a full French script.
There must be one out there!
–Laura
Comment by Laura — Sun November 19, 2006 @ 0:33Tu parle a moi!
Comment by Piney — Sat December 23, 2006 @ 18:49Very interesting
:)
Comment by sk4eva!!! — Fri January 12, 2007 @ 23:34i watched this at school
it was a great movie and it did give you something to think about >>>>>>>>
great movie
I saw this movie years ago late one night (subtitled) and i was hooked on it, i have never forgotten it and would love to see it again. it has so much, truely a great movie..the impact of this film has stayed with me a long long time..if you havent seen it ..do. its amazing. :O)
Comment by Sharron — Mon April 16, 2007 @ 22:07And now Vicent Cassel is known all around the world for some shitty movies like ocean12 & 13 . rofl.
Comment by aki — Tue January 15, 2008 @ 17:08For the full french transcript, just download subtitles – thats easy to find – just type la haine subtitles in google et voila! it opens in notepad.
paco, i dont think you’re totally right about not understanding the “jokes” because i understood perfectly well and im not french!! the first time, the verlan is difficult, but once you know its there, its easy. and the jokes…. you mean like cousin hube? i guess it depends if youre into french films and culture!! i think the english subs are worse because they are for americans, so theres even a culture shift involved there between the UK and the US! (things like asterix could have stayed as asterix for the uk instead of snoopy…)
its an amazing movie. at the minute i’m searching for language reviews on the movie because i have chosen La Haine as my topic for translation studies ! its quite hard to describe the language to someone who has no knowledge of it!!
Comment by Becca — Tue April 29, 2008 @ 1:32