La Haine Movie Review Example

Summary

La Haine is a film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz which is based on the setting of Paris’ suburbs. The film revolves around three young men (Jewish, Arab and Black) who find themselves at the thick of things. After the riots in Paris, the three young men are keenly monitored by the police, essentially because their attitudes are akin to those that caused the riots. The three men have different characteristics. Vinz (Jewish), for instance, hates the world and the police (N.Y Times, n.p). This is shown by his desire to kill a police when he picked a gun. The Arab on the other hand is confused, more temperate and cuts a hopeless figure. Hubert, the black man is more sympathetic, despite being a drug dealer. Jobless, the three often wandered across the streets aimlessly, causing suspicion among the citizens. Important to note is the fact that the film addresses issues to do with ethnic, cultural and religion. Although the film is set in France, it depicts the general approach throughout the world and how physical appearance of an individual may play a role in shaping how they are perceived in the society.

Analysis and Discussion

La Haine offers the perfect example on how a person’s appearance may be used against them. When this is the case, such persons may find themselves in the wrong end, despite the fact that they are innocent. Matters will be worse if one can be easily singled out based on their color, religion, ethnicity, religion and such other social aspects. The film gives the perfect summary on how such aspects are deeply-rooted in the minds of human beings, making it difficult and almost impossible to facilitate a seamless manner of integration.
The film addresses matters of ethnicity and religion and how they can be used against an individual when they find themselves in foreign places. After the riots, Ahmed is arrested and put in a police station. This prompts one of the three guys to comment to the effect that ‘An Arab in a police station doesn’t last an hour.’ To an extent, this statement points out to the manner that Arabs are mistreated in the land and in most cases, they get killed. This statement is complemented by the graffiti ‘Don’t forget, the police kill’. The impact of this is portraying the picture that policemen in the film are more of racists and in most cases; they have been subjected to physical attacks.
Ethnicity is also well depicted in the scene where the most ruthless and violent policeman wears a jacket (Notre Dame). Issues arise as to whether the jacket refers to the French cathedral or the American university. Although there are arguments that the film is not anti-American, cross-cultural issues inevitably arise. It remains to be seen whether such sentiments would have been made had the jacket been worn by a different person, say the three wandering men.
In general terms, the attention the three young men attract is enough to summarize how people in a foreign ethnicity may be depicted negatively. Although harmless and not necessarily criminals, everybody singles out the three men as being violent. This is based on their inactivity in the region, often wandering in the town. As a matter of fact, they were not the only wanderers. However, because of their religion, ethnicity and color, they get more attention.

Works Cited

"Movie Review - Hate - FILM FESTIVAL REVIEW;Crime, Violence and Pessimism (Not in America) - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2015.