La Haine

Infobox Film | name = La Haine

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caption = La Haine cover, with the tagline "Jusqu'ici tout va bien…" ("So far, so good…")
director = Mathieu Kassovitz
writer = Mathieu Kassovitz
starring = Vincent Cassel,
Hubert Koundé,
Saïd Taghmaoui
music = Assassin
distributor = Canal+
released = May 31, 1995
runtime = 98 min.
language = French
budget = 15 million F (2.3 million €)
preceded_by =
followed_by =
amg_id = 1:134793
imdb_id = 113247

"La Haine" (IPAEng|la ɛːn; French for "hatred") is a French black-and-white film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, released in 1995. It is released under its French title in the English-speaking world, although the American VHS release was entitled "Hate". It is about three teenage friends and their struggle to live life in the banlieues of Paris. The title derives from a line spoken by Hubert: "La haine attire la haine!", "hatred attracts hatred."

ynopsis

The film tells the story of three young friends in an impoverished multi-ethnic housing project (a ZUP - " _fr. zone à urbaniser en priorité") in the aftermath of a great riot. Vinz (Vincent Cassel), who is Jewish, is filled with rage. He sees himself as a gangster ready to win respect by killing a cop, and models himself after Travis Bickle from the film "Taxi Driver". Saïd - Sayid in some English subtitles - (Saïd Taghmaoui) is a happy and talkative North African who tries to find middle ground between his two friends' response to life. Hubert (Hubert Koundé) is an African boxer and drug dealer. Most quiet of the three, he sadly contemplates the ghetto and the hate around him. He is probably the only one who has a minimum of consciousness about the state of things. He wants to simply leave this decadent world of violence and hate behind him but doesn't know how since he lacks the means to do it.A friend of theirs, Abdel Ichaha, has been brutalised by the police after the riot and lies in a coma. Vinz finds a policeman's revolver, lost in the riots. He vows that if their friend dies from his injuries, he will use it to kill a cop.

Production

It is said that Kassovitz based the script on the actual death of 22-year-old French Arab Malik Oussekine, who was beaten to death by police following a 1986 university demonstration. However, in interviews Kassovitz has said that the idea came to him after a young Zairian, Makomé Bowole, was shot and killed at point blank range while in police custody and handcuffed to a radiator - the officer was reported to have been angered by Makomé's words, and had been threatening him when the gun went off accidentally. [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-1386(199724%2F199824)51%3A2%3C44%3AH(H%3E2.0.CO%3B2-G]

Trivia

When Vinz, Hubert and Said go to Asterix's house to get Said's cash, one of the doorbells outside his building has the name 'Cassel' on it. This is a reference to the lead actor of the film, Vincent Cassel (he plays Vinz).

Video releases

"La Haine" was available on VHS in the United States, but was not released on DVD until the Criterion Collection released a 2-disc edition in 2007. The film has been shown on many Charter Communications Channels. An HD DVD version has also been released in Europe.

Awards

* Best Director (Cannes Film Festival) - Mathieu Kassovitz
* Best Editing (César Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz and Scott Stevenson
* Best Film (César Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
* Best Producer (César Awards) - Christophe Rossignon
* Best Young Film (European Film Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
* Best Foreign Language Film (Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards)
* Best Director (Lumiere Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz
* Best Film (Lumiere Awards) - Mathieu Kassovitz

See also

*Cinema of France
*List of French language films
*2005 civil unrest in France
*Social situation in the French suburbs

References

External links

*
* [http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Hills/4633/hate.html Independent take on the feature film]
* [http://frenchfilms.topcities.com/nf_La_haine_rev.html Review of "La Haine" by "Films de France"]
* [http://www.stanford.edu/group/SHR/5-2/sussman.html Stanford University Review]
* [http://www.mathieukassovitz.com/blognews2/ "Working Class France..." POV by Matthieu Kassovitz] about the 2005 riots in France

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=César Award for Best Film
years=1996
before="Wild Reeds"
after="Ridicule"