How far can it be argued that your chosen films provide a ‘realistic’ representation of the people and places they focus on?

My chosen films are La Haine and City of God. These films, I believe, offer a realistic representation of the people and places they focus on (though La Haine more than City of God). I will be discussing how far they represent them by analysing key scenes throughout the films.

La Haine is a Social-political film directed by Mathiew Kassovitz which portrays a challenging representation of France which goes against the romanticised version of France as seen in films such as Amelie. The on-going racial conflict in France is clearly shown in the film through the conflict between the three main characters Vinz, Saïd and Hubert and their conflict with French society.

The first scene that I will analyse is the scene when Hubert comes home. This scene shows the extreme length that those in the projects have to go to in order to afford necessities and reflects the theme of poverty in the film. The Scene starts when Hubert comes home to find his sister at the dining table doing work. She asks Hubert for help with a maths problem but he pushes it away, claiming he doesn’t know the answer. This can be read in two ways, one that Hubert cannot do the maths problem or two, that he is simply too stressed to worry about it. My preferred reading is the second way, as it would make sense that due to his line of work selling drugs, he would be required to know at least basic maths in order to correctly deal with customers. The fact that he is the one asked by his sister to help and that he gives his mother money for gas bills and for his sister's and brother's education, implies that he is their only male role model, and so has none of his own. He is the main breadwinner as he is the one to pay the bills by selling soft drugs. His crime seems to be acceptable to his family/mother. This is because they are at such a stage of desperation where it is needed to pay for the gas bill and to provide education for his younger brother and sister. His crime could be seen as a symptom of his victimisation by his society/environment. It can be seen that Hubert is in business with a 'Fence', a person who sells stolen goods. This low level crime is seen to be a part of, and accepted, in this environment as there is no other options, no money.

The scene then transitions to his bed room. The camera reflects the lack of space in the room for him, making it seem overcrowded. The fact that at his age he is still living at home brings up the ideas that either he cannot afford his own place, which is extremely likely, or that no one will sell him an apartment because of his ethnicity and 'non-frenchness'. He sits down and clasps his hands together as though in prayer. This shows his desperation. The camera is in a close up meaning that there is no room around him, reflecting how he himself feels in this situation; that there is no room for him to move in his life and that he is trapped. On his wall are posters of Tommie Smith and John Carlos doing to Black Power Salute in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Muhammad Ali and Haac Hayes. Each of these shows his feeling of rejection from French society and in turn his own rejection of the society. The fact that he not only sells marijuana as a job but also smoked it himself shows that he has nothing else to do while also reflecting his anxiety about his life.

The next scene I will analyse is the rooftop scene. This scene shows the conflict between the projects and the police in a very effective way while reflecting the theme of power and conflict in the film. To begin with the different groups of the projects are separated to different parts of the rooftop, keeping to themselves and being harassed by Saïd. However as soon as the police appear to order them off the roof, all the groups band together behind Nordeen (Said’s little brother) to stand against the police. This shows that the police are the common enemy or threat and that everyone is aware of the prejudice and brutality that they face at the police’s hands. In this scene it is revealed that Hubert has a criminal past but is not proud of it as he knows that crime is not the answer. However, Vinz seems to think that going to jail will boost his status and give him an identity in the community and give him pride. The use of the police as a common threat is in keeping with the past of French society. All three of the main characters have reasons to be against the police force; Said, being Algerian, after the second world war the Algerians protested peacefully which resulted in conflicts such as the Setif Massacre, Vinz is Jewish and so would have heard the stories about how the Vichy government in the south sent 75,000 Jews to concentration camps resulting in only 2000 survivors. This will have caused bitterness to creep down the family lines and cause distrust and even hateful feelings towards the police. And of course Hubert will have suffered due to his ethnicity as black and therefore would be suffering due to it.

The third scene I will be analysing for this film is the opening montage in which Mathiew Kassovitz used a montage of found footage of real life protests and battles between the police and the people of the projects. It also introduces the films key themes. Mathieu Kassovitz uses many cinema techniques in order to manipulate his audience. This is shown in the opening sequence when we, as the audience, are positioned to see the police as antagonists who instigate the violence shown in the riot shots, and the protestors as protagonists who are driven to reactions by the violent acts of the police. This is done to give the audience an idea of whose side they should be taking (and will take) in this film before they have even seen it.

The sequence opens with a long P.O.V shot from behind a lone protestor who is facing what looks like an army of fully armed police in the distance. This shot is extremely effective as it gives us the idea that the protestors are the underdogs. It does this through many different cinema techniques. The first is the use of a single protestor. We cannot see behind us and so don’t know if there are any other protestors behind us, but the image itself gives us the impression that it is a single man standing against the full might of the state. The second technique used is the difference in attire of the police and the protestor. The protestor is wearing casual clothes; a hooded jacket, jeans, trainers and a t-shirt whereas the police are fully equipped in padded body armour and helmets. The police are also militarised with weapons including teargas, guns and batons, which greatly outmatches the protestor’s sticks and stones. The simple fact that we are on the opposite side to the police makes us feel like we are part of the protestor’s opposition to the police’s brutality. The quote which the protestor shouts to the police also solidifies their lack of power against them; “you’re murderers! You can shoot, we only have stones.” The use of the word ‘murderers’ also makes us turn against the police as we instantly take the protestors word because we feel that it is excessive to use bullets against tree branches and stones. The use of faceless police also turns us against them. This is because it makes them less human than the protestors, that they are mindless and lack morality. It makes is easier for us to accept the protestors violence towards them since we see them as oppressors to the people of the projects. The representations of the police and protestors as the ‘antagonists’ and ‘protagonists’ is false as we are being manipulated due to the many cinematic techniques.

La Haine’s ending is an unclosed one. This reflects that the on-going conflicts happening within the country in real life are still going on and that there is no way to predict what will happen. This adds another sense of realism to the film as it reflects the goings on in real life.

Unlike La Haine, City of God seems to be more of a mainstream film. Whereas with La Haine you need to have some sort of prior knowledge about the actual state of the country and some of its history with minorities, anyone can watch City of God and understand it. This instantly has an effect on its realistic qualities. This film shows many generic crime conventions including the glamorisation of crime and the rise and fall of a criminal. Both of these conventions are shown through the character of Lil’ Ze who is shown to be a boy who has fallen victim to crime as a child and then risen to be a leader in the criminal underworld, becoming a villain. Under his influence the COG has become filled with fear and war. Unlike in La Haine, COG is split into three clear stories: The Tender Trio, Lil’ Ze and Knock out Ned. Each of these stories represents a decade with the Tender Trio being the 60s, Lil’ Ze being the 70s and Knockout Ned being the 80s. The glamorisation of crime is shown in the scene with the Tender Trio. In this scene we clearly get a sense of community and optimism. The crimes performed are to help the community and not really for their own personal gain. The police also seem to be more lenient, only giving out warnings and not performing any actual arrests. These scenes are also full of sunlight and the city is filled with golden light, giving the city a sense of being a nice place to live despite the poverty and lack of electricity. There are a lot of wide shots in these scenes giving off a sense of freedom by showing lots of space between the houses. This era is meant to show the time in real life when the city of god was being worked on and was destined for great things before the coup which resulted in it being forgotten.

A scene which shows Conflict is the montage scene in which Rocket narrates the rise and fall of the local Drug Barons and how Lil’ Ze rose to power. The montage takes place within the same apartment and shows how people have been overthrown and betrayed in order to take over the drug business.

From my two films I believe that La Haine is the one which best represents its people and location. It brings in detailed yet subtle history from France’s past and uses it to make a social and political message. It is an example of National Cinema in which it is aimed at those within the country and is meant to give a moral and create change. City of God however is simply an example of World Cinema which can be understood around the globe.