SECTION A - LA HAINE

LA HAINE 1995 (KASSOVITZ)

La Haine is a 1995 French black and white documentary drama film, the title meaning “hate”. This is repeated several times in the film like motif for the subbed dialogue. La Haine’s camera work is strangely odd breaking much of the traditional Hollywood Rules. It was directed by Mathieu Kassovitz winning many Oscars and got tons of nominations. The film is about the aftermath of a riot against the dominant and corrupt ideology of the police force from the under privileged and alienated in society who are also depicted as criminals. We follow the composite 3 characters Sayid, Hubert and Vinz and their encounters and struggles in the street.

THEMES

· Crime and Deviance

· Companionship

CONTEXT

· Three Classes in France took place in 1950’s. The High Class, the Middle Class and the Lower Class. High class consists of politicians, wealthy families and business owners. Middle class consists of people who do white collar jobs like executives of companies. Lower class consists of people who do blue collar jobs such as retail and food service.

· The country is also a multicultural one. Full of diverse ethnic groups.

· Prisons are bursting with almost 60000 inmates.

· More than 30000 car thefts a year.

· 1.4% of population are victims of assault.

· Slate Magazine label’s Kassovitz 1995 film as predicting upcoming riots in 2005 November.

POWER

· Prop- Pistols (Vinz wants power and respect.) (Vinz centrally framed when he shows it to other two characters.) (Point it towards audience off screen)

· Hubert (Physique, masculinity as an accomplishment.)

· Violence is a way of expressing masculinity which is one of the few ways of having power in an environment where there is lack of authority.

· Media has power to right stories about delinquents. Showed them filmed above the composite 3 looking down on the other characters.

· Territorial Power, Police have no power on the rooftops but in Police Station they are in complete control under closed doors. Sayid friend tells the police to pretty much get lost.

POVERTY

· 16 million, ¼ of the population are in education. Over 2 million in university. Effects local residents who are uneducated and oppressed as such.

· Destroyed Gym, High Rise flats.

· Unemployed Youths causing trouble due to no jobs. (Relative Poverty)

Binary Oppositions

There are 2 main binary oppositions:

· One is between the middle class and the working class who are the rioters probably rioting because of class inequality and exploitation.

· Another is between the criminals and the police officers. The criminals are represented as partly fighting for justice where as the officers are represented as corrupt treating criminals like animals. Why? Because the film is filmed in a way to take the side of the oppressed during corruption. (Riots in November 2005)

CHARACTERS

· Sayid- Has a Persona lying somewhere in between his companions which creates stability of their friendship. Although the plot focuses on the composite 3, it is almost filmed from his point of view. He is the first character to be introduced to the audience after the riots have taken place. The characters also have to go and collect money from Snoop, another sub plot in the narrative because of him.

· Vinz- He is the hot headed youth who craves respect from his peers. He’s also one of the few of his friends that has never been to prison. He despises police officers. At times he is the heart of the disruption in the narrative.

· Hubert- He is the drug dealer that had his gym burnt down in the riots. He’s the more serious, wise and intelligent one of the group and a social realist who wants to escape the diegesis. Usually tends to be the one who tries to try to calms down hostile situations. Hubert states, “Hate Breeds Hate”. We see that he instead of doing something stupid; he channels the stress of the daily struggles in his life to boxing.

· Abdel- He is the key reason behind the story. He is put into Acoma after the riots by the police officers. Vinz will shoot an officer if he dies in hospital. He appears as a visual motif throughout the film placed on the TV screen in extreme close ups.

Key Messages, “Crime doesn’t pay,” “Consequences to your actions,”

Key Values

· Family

· Respect

· Decency

· Friendship/Companionship

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE/MACRO ELEMENTS

· Clock is used as a Framing Device to refer to what is happening at different times in the 24 hours occurring in the plot. (“6.00”)

· The narrative structure breaks Todorov’s rules; constant disruption is used within the narrative.

· The characters are on quests. 1 to avenge Abdul, Vinz’s personal quest and 2 to collect money from Snoopy.

· There are 2 main binary oppositions. One is between the middle class and the working class who are the rioters probably rioting because of class inequality. Another is between the criminals and the police officers. The criminals are represented as partly fighting for justice where as the officers are represented as corrupt treating criminals like animals.

· Police are the villains because they are represented as corrupt.

· Constant Disruption in the narrative. The cinematography shows the characters walking into the camera at many times signifying that they are walking into crime. As they are walking away from the camera it as if they are walking away from it.

· The film has a clear Linear Structure.

MICRO ELEMENTS

· Filmed in Black and White Film Stock

· Walking towards and away from crime. (Closer towards Camera, away from it.)

· DJ Cutter “Fuck the Police Soundtrack” (Before good use of crane shots.)

· BEV shots of the whole setting where they 3 live in.

· Medium/Long Shots Represent Nothing to do for youths and emptiness in their lives. (E.g. When Vinz talking to the little kid about events that took place prior to narrative) (Especially when characters are distanced from another, in scene where Sayid is chucking things at the kid.

· Rapid use of 360 Degree shot especially when Sayid pauses the 3 characters. (Same occurs at police station.)

· Zoom into Sayid at opening sequence, Sayid opens eyes. Same at resolution but he closes eyes.

· Large use of 3 shot to emphasize the companionship of the composite 3 characters often in medium shots.

· Real Footage of Rioting in the opening Sequence.

· The Photograph of Abdel on T.V. acts as a recurring motif.

· Vinz has premonitions of shooting the police officers but was only visually imagining doing so. (Evidence of losing his mind.)

Values- Friendship, Family, Respect

Messages- “Crime doesn’t pay” “Consequences to your actions”

SPECTATOR/AUDIENCE THEORIES

Uses and Gratifications- Theory of escapism where Hubert wants to escape the diegesis telling his mother about how he needs to leave his current lifestyle behind. Why? This is because of the stress of it all.

Two Step flow Theory- The director is the expert who seems to have good knowledge about France. We as the audience are followers and through the ideologies set by him learn the context in France. Kassovitz’s film is given the label as the film that predicted riots by the Slate Magazine. (Used to elaborate Merton's Strain Theory about the stress of W/C lifestyle likely to put pressure on them lead to criminal action which the audience is likely to accept.)

· Intertextuality/Context- There is a contrast between Vinz and Travis from the film Taxi Driver. The prop of the mirror is used for intertextuality reflecting the image of Travis. Both of them are trying to big themselves up by talking to themselves in preparation for serious conflict. However Vinz is going against the law where as Travis is taking the law into his own hands.

· Riots in November 2005, labelled Kassovitz’s film as predicting riots. (Slate Magazine)

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