Genre Question

How significant are genre and narrative to understand your focus film?

Genre:

La Haine comes under the category of national cinema. This is because the film shows the country's issues that it is going through and its events. It is also in its own language. Although City of God does the same and highlights the problem Brazil faces in its favelas, it is classed as a national cinema film. This is because it is easier for global audiences to understand as it follows the generic conventions of a crime film. These are things like violence, drug dealing, abuse of women and corrupt police. This could be tied to any other crime infested location in the world. It is also stylistic in the way the camera is situated and the use of different lighting in each as time passes in the film. There is also a lot of action in the film so people are brought in to watch the film. La Haine is also classed as a social realist film. This is because of the way they tackle things that are related to France. Things that show that it comes under the social realist band is of the way it is made. The camera is takes in documentary style techniques such as a hand held camera and also long takes. The events that take place in La Haine are specific to the location the film is set in. The film challenges the national identity and dominant ideology of Paris. People think of Paris to be very colourful and romantic but this film tells us that it is not the case. We see a different side of Paris as director Kassovitz wants us to see. We as an audience see a dull version of Paris through the eyes of the trio and the way the film was made. The film was made in black and white.

The narrative of La Haine is linear. We see it is linear because the film is set in chapters and each chapter tells us that time has passed as it is moving forward. Also we see the time move from day to night. Because it is a social realist film, there is no resolution at the ending of the film. This shows and tells the audience that the situations are ongoing and nothing has been resolved. Kassovitz is also showing that things are getting worse or are going to get worse. City of God however is non linear. The film starts near the end of the film but it is only through a flashback that we know this through the narrator who is also in the film called Rocket. We see that the film is set in chapters and they go through different decades in the film. There is also a clear resolution to the film when we see Lil Ze get shot and Rocket run off to live his life outside of the favelas. The film is also generic as it meets the audiences expectation of a crime film as it has every convention you would think of.