La Haine Reviews

never blink - amazing!

"La Haine" is one of the best films made in the last 20 years. It requires attention to detail, though, and it's fully packed with messages and metaphors. It's not just about racism and social condition but also a representation of youth and its bigger questions. "The world is yours", seen frequently in the street banners throughout the film, contradicts the reality of what the youths expect life to offer them.

The camerawork is absolutely amazing, just try to keep an eye for how the camera moves and how the images follow each other, and how the sound is worked around them. The acting is amazing too, it leads us to believe that everyone is real, and I think it helped a lot that they didn't employ any major actors for the main parts.

There are many details to watch out for and some of them will only be understood by viewers with background knowledge on certain issues. But that's not important at all, the film is highly entertaining and punchy, as good if not better than most actions films. The violence is realistic and only shocking because it mirrors real situations.

Watch it twice, at least, and don't blink :)

Why are UK distributors for European films so rubbish?

Top film, terrible transfer. Some genius at Tartan Video (the distributors) decided to save a few quid by mastering this dvd from a print that had clearly seen a few cinema projectors. In addition to scratches & blotches, we're treated to unreadable white subtitles burnt in to the high contrast b/w image. To make things worse, the text is clearly for the US market (character Asterix translated as Snoopy, lots of US slang). The last time I checked, France was part of Europe. Tartan Video - up yer kilt!

Punchy pace, where's the sub-tiltles?

La Haine produced everything expected of it; top flight performances from the leads, grit & aggression and all with a strong undercurrent of the rich & vibrant culture abound in the Paris projects. However one thing lacking was the dialogue in subtitles! White subtitles on a black & white film resulted in the loss of between 30 - 50 % of dialogue, losing the impact of the dark humour and fast pace banter of 3 project drop outs.

You can't hate the Hate!

I've had this on video for years & watched it in me yoof to the point where I could insult most people pretty well when in Paris (subtitles can be useful). I haven't had a working video for a while so was like meeting an old friend watching this.

Set on a Parisian estate at the height of racial tension there at the time in the 90's this is still a valid statement, the tension builds throughout with the grainy black n white heightening this. This isn't an action film, the dialogue is witty with truly believable performances from everyone involved. I cannot rate this film highly enough, one of the best movies ever to come out of France

What a film

Don't let the fact that it has subtitles put you off, for this is a great film. Cleverly put together, and never lets up on the pace.

Set after a riot has taken place in a dull estate on the outskirts of Paris, 3 men come to terms with the fact that a friend of theirs may die after being beaten up by the police. One of the men is losing control, and his fantasy about killing a policeman in revenge grows as the films goes on.

Filmed in black and white makes this a gritty story. I won't ruin it by telling you too much of what happens, but look out for the old man in the public toilets, very funny.

Love or Hate

A solid film but not as good as I was expecting. The acting and story and cinematography was excellent but didn't quite have the bit I was expecting.

Have noted the comments in other reviews I had no problems with the subtitles not sure if this is because the dvd I had was a 10th year anniversary version. Certainly Asterix was called Asterix.

Excellent extras including colour scenes.

Cassel and Kassovitz in perfect harmony

This is a film that will not excite the average viewer of mainstream films if it is described to them. It is French, subtitled, Black and white, and centres around three socially deprived characters in a suburb of Paris. What makes this film stand out so much however is the way that the story is told.

In the opening we hear a narrator telling us about a man falling off of a skyscraper and as he falls past each floor he says "So far so good. So far so good." It’s not how you fall... its how you land.

This becomes a metaphor for the rest of the film as we follow three youths Vinz, Said, and Hubert through a day in their lives and see the police oppression that corners and pigeonholes them.

The film rumbles along at an incendiary pace taking us with it and giving clues along the way to what it is trying to tell us before screeching to a halt for a breathtakingly powerful denouement.

An absolutely brilliant film for fans of any genre and one of the best pieces of cinema to come out of France in a long time.

pointless

after half an hour i had to give up with this movie due to the fact that the subtitles were over all= unreadable.

A loving film about hate

This film deals with hate in all its guises, between races, classes, sexes, religions, gangs and, most importantly, the self-hate festering in close and enclosed communities.

The inspiration for later classics such as City of the Gods, this film shows the less familiar face of France, the grim grey ghettos of suburban poverty.

A hard hitting, stark, yet engaging film.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Entertaining piece of foreign cinema

This movie was another recommendation we received from a friend and again he has found a good quality movie. La Haine or The Hate is a French subtitled story shot in black & white based in the back streets of Paris, it is a story with messages like hatred breads hate and the value of friendship. The first thing of note is that the subtitles and black and white film is not a problem at all as previously mentioned in other reviews, the subtitles are white yes but bold and clear, before long, like any good subtitled movie, you forget you are reading them whilst the black and white filming really gives the film an edge, in fact I do not think this film in colour would have done the plot justice. La Haine is well acted and moves at a steady pace, do not expect explosive in your face action but there is more than enough content to keep you interested as the film builds towards and quick but effective end. In summary this is a well thought through and entertaining piece of foreign cinema, slow in parts and not as brutal and action packed as perhaps we first anticipated based on the preview but certainly well worth a watch. 4 Stars.