Mathieu Kassovitz
Kassovitz’ doesn’t depict a fanciful, romantic version of Paris, one which we so often see on the big screen. Instead, we see the gritty, multi-ethnic suburban housing projects, both socially and politically different to our idealised visions of the French city.
In La Haine, we see three immigrants living in the banlieue or the outskirts of Paris, who all share a common need for change in society, but all by different means. One who believes in violence to create change, the other who believes in passivity, and the last who follows whichever is creating the biggest difference. Their friend has been hospitalized as a result of police brutality, and one in particular declares to seek vengeance, should he die.
The film can be summed up by one of the final quotes,
“La haine attire la haine” translated as hatred breeds hatred. The battle between the minorities and authorities is a spiralling decline, bound to crash at any moment. And, bring society down with it.
La Haine
director MATHIEU KASSOVITZ
year 1995
director of photography PIERRE AÏM
cast VINCENT CASSEL, HUBERT KOUNDÉ, SAÏD TAGHMAOUI, MARC DURET and ABDEL AHMED GHILI
words PRIYESH PATEL
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