debate

The films I have studied for this topic are La Haine and City of God. La Haine is a social political film therefore we are given a realistic representation of France, however City of God is a generic crime film. Because of this, debates are brought up within the audience however for different reasons.

The beach scene within the film COG, shows the idyllic beach location of Rio, which prior to watching the film, is what we as an audience expect to see. The beach scene represents how this film meets audience expectations through existing ideologies we have upon Rio, such that there are many ideologies people have upon Rio, however the idyllic beaches of Rio are the most recognisable feature of Rio. As a result the film, is reinforcing our current beliefs therefore not challenging us as an audience, and simply offering a POV, which we already had. However, the film depicts the incorrect idea that the within the beach scene, that the problems are removed when the film is shot outside of the favelas, which we know depicts an unrealistic view that the problems within Rio are solely created from the favelas, and not through political influences which created the underlining issues to begin with. 

With City Of God you can clearly see that this film is world cinema with it following its convention very strongly.  Making it very easy to place the film within a Genre that Genre being a crime film, this is seen throughout the film with many scenes like the scene on the beach with Rio being glorified or with just generally showing the high life of crime and how there is not much consequence to there actions with Lil’ze getting the women and power.

The Scene most prompt is the end one where rocket escapes a life of crime and Lil’ze is killed by what it is suggested to be his successors, showing that there is in fact a cycle with in the crime but more importantly it is following genre and you see a resolution so this taking away from any realism that could have been conveyed in the film, so it really does not challenge the audiences expectations of Rio. Furthermore also contributing to the fact that this film is world cinema is that this is set over decades, so showing only the climax’s of drama with in the favela’s, and this is done for entertainment purposes and does not give true representation or background information on how they got in the state they did.​

La Haine challenges audiences to rethink their romanticised perceptions of Paris and France. The opening montage of the riots during the nineties is a far cry from the usual images we see of France. Police violence and brutality are shown as they attack rioters, the shots being edited to look as if the police are unprovoked in their attacks against the 'peaceful' protestors. The realistic framework manipulates the audience into viewing the film as realistic. This generates the debate of police using extreme force, especially when the police appear more like a military squad with armoured vans and weapons. Also the scene of the police interrogation against Hubert and Said.  It shows how racism is institutionalised into society as the young police officer is being taught torture techniques.

bout The Worlds They Represent?

Matthew Kassovitz’s social-political film, La Haine, presents a challenging view of France and eliminates the stereotypical view of Paris as the city of love. The ongoing conflict in France is clearly portrayed in La Haine through the perspective of three immigrants, Said, Hubert and Vinz. Origins and culture is abolished in France and you are either identified as non-french or french.

This is shown in particular in the art gallery scene, where the issue of social class is presented. As Vinz, Said and Hubert live in the Les Banlieues, the poorer side of France, they are judged and outcasted at this middle-class event. They become the centre of attention as they are different; they are destructive and don’t speak in a formal manner. The media scene, where Vinz, Hubert and Said are confronted by a journalist also shows this social issue. The journalists are looking for something specific, which is shown how they reverse backwards and question the trio about the riots. They are looking for under class people, who are associated to be the cause of the riots. Vinz, Hubert and Said are causally taking drugs and sitting in a park showing they are unemployed and have no prospects, which is exactly what the media are looking for. They antagonise Vinz in particular and record the footage which will be broadcasted later to the public; they portray the underclass as rude and obnoxious. The area around them is bleak and cage like, which represents them as animalistic which is reinforced by the media recording the footage of them. The trio are shot at a low angle to show that this is their environment, this is where they are in control.