Power is very much a physical presence. The authorities use brute force and intimidation to have power of the projects, and if they want you to do something, you will do it. Although they tend to stay out of the projects, and they have their own hierarchy of power, who all unite again the one common enemy, the system. We see the example of this when the three main characters, Vinz, Hubert and Sayid go on to the rooftop of one of the apartment blocks and we see the leader, Sayid's brother emerge. You also see the internal fighting, the different ethnicities all cooped together arguing within themselves. Until the police show up, and visually, the two groups divide like the red sea, showing the hierarchy of power.
Power is also in correlation with money, it's not so much if you have money you have power, but more if you have no money, you have a severe lack of power and your voice won't be heard. We know this to be both in the film and true to real life because of the scene where the three go to the City Centre, and the police officer assumes that they are from there and calls Sayid 'sir', which he is shocked by, and this is the first time we see a figure of authority show and ounce of respect to them, and probably the first time they have ever gotten it too.
The film is also very male dominated, the three main characters are all male, the members of authority are all male, and every single person on the rooftop scene is male.
Power can also be based on location, if you are from the city centre, you have a lot more of a change of getting a job. If (by your postcode) you live in a project outside of Paris, you will get turned down from most jobs and be stuck in a rut. In particular the scene where the three go to see one of Sayid's customers and asks him to pay, and he is raging about his car being burned, and he now has no way of travelling 20 miles to the city centre to get his job. Through my research I found that there was also evidence of people from the projects not getting jobs merely because of their postcode, the interviewer would look at the post code, and say no based solely on that.
Power is also visually represented by the gun the Vinz carries throughout. He talks and talks about shooting an officer for revenge, and we know by the ending that the gun shows visually the power. As soon as he gives up the gun, he gets shot. This is a depiction of realism because the gun is the prominent spearhead for driving the actions of the narrative, both for Vinz and for the whole film as it is that gun that shoots the teenager at the start. Relating this to realism, the films context of coming about is due directly to the shooting of a teenager accidentally in the hands of the police whilst being handcuffed to a post.
Poverty is represented visually but also subliminally through the actions of the characters and through the decisions the director Kassovitz made in some shots.
The three characters, in particular the shot where they are sitting around and Hubert is kicking the syringe. The shots are significantly longer, and wider to show specifically that there is nothing for the three to do except sit around all day in the Projects. The wide shot connotes the emptiness and lack of opportunity in combination with the length of the shots.
Another example is the scene on the roof, where yet again there is about 50-60 men sitting on a roof doing absolutely nothing with their day. No opportunities and no jobs. This reflects reality again linking back to people being stuck in the projects with no way out due to not being able to get employed due to where they live, meaning there is no way out.
Poverty is also shown through the sheer need for escapism from their own society in the projects and neglect for French society.
There have been various politicians and prominent French figures who have been quoted saying people without white ethnic backgrounds are 'non-French' and have been shunned by society as a consequence. This leading to the victims to oppose French society in every way possible, adopting and replacing it with American culture and Skinhead culture.
Inside Hubert's bedroom he has nothing from French culture, everything is American. The posters, the boxing culture and the black panther poster. The main theme of escapism is by the constant references to American culture throughout. The music when Hubert is in his room, the haircut Sayid gets, and the scene when the rap song is played throughout the whole project for everyone to hear, showing the conflict and the need for escapism through American rap.
Conflict is a constant theme throughout the film, whether it be internally against each other in the projects, uniting with each other against the authorities, or just through the divide created through poverty against the projects and the City Centre. This is shown in correlation with the conflict of ethnicity when the three go to see Asterix and the police
Conflict between the projects and the authorities is created straight away in the montage in the intro. It is worth noting the clips were deliberately manipulated to appear as a linear series of events, where we see the protestors harmlessly dancing and not damaging anything or anyone. Then the police strike first, using unreasonable force against them, which sparks of this 'war' between the two. You see the police gearing up for effectively what is war, whereas the protestors are under armed. Through the manipulation of the clips, we see the divide, and we side with the protestors, because we see them as the victim in the situation. The song choice was a bold choice, Burnin' and Lootin' by Bob Marley, this was because the meaning behind Bob as a spearhead for fighting the system, and the lyrics support this. "This morning, I woke up in a curfew."
Power is also in correlation with money, it's not so much if you have money you have power, but more if you have no money, you have a severe lack of power and your voice won't be heard. We know this to be both in the film and true to real life because of the scene where the three go to the City Centre, and the police officer assumes that they are from there and calls Sayid 'sir', which he is shocked by, and this is the first time we see a figure of authority show and ounce of respect to them, and probably the first time they have ever gotten it too.
The film is also very male dominated, the three main characters are all male, the members of authority are all male, and every single person on the rooftop scene is male.
Power can also be based on location, if you are from the city centre, you have a lot more of a change of getting a job. If (by your postcode) you live in a project outside of Paris, you will get turned down from most jobs and be stuck in a rut. In particular the scene where the three go to see one of Sayid's customers and asks him to pay, and he is raging about his car being burned, and he now has no way of travelling 20 miles to the city centre to get his job. Through my research I found that there was also evidence of people from the projects not getting jobs merely because of their postcode, the interviewer would look at the post code, and say no based solely on that.
Power is also visually represented by the gun the Vinz carries throughout. He talks and talks about shooting an officer for revenge, and we know by the ending that the gun shows visually the power. As soon as he gives up the gun, he gets shot. This is a depiction of realism because the gun is the prominent spearhead for driving the actions of the narrative, both for Vinz and for the whole film as it is that gun that shoots the teenager at the start. Relating this to realism, the films context of coming about is due directly to the shooting of a teenager accidentally in the hands of the police whilst being handcuffed to a post.
Poverty is represented visually but also subliminally through the actions of the characters and through the decisions the director Kassovitz made in some shots.
The three characters, in particular the shot where they are sitting around and Hubert is kicking the syringe. The shots are significantly longer, and wider to show specifically that there is nothing for the three to do except sit around all day in the Projects. The wide shot connotes the emptiness and lack of opportunity in combination with the length of the shots.
Another example is the scene on the roof, where yet again there is about 50-60 men sitting on a roof doing absolutely nothing with their day. No opportunities and no jobs. This reflects reality again linking back to people being stuck in the projects with no way out due to not being able to get employed due to where they live, meaning there is no way out.
Poverty is also shown through the sheer need for escapism from their own society in the projects and neglect for French society.
There have been various politicians and prominent French figures who have been quoted saying people without white ethnic backgrounds are 'non-French' and have been shunned by society as a consequence. This leading to the victims to oppose French society in every way possible, adopting and replacing it with American culture and Skinhead culture.
Inside Hubert's bedroom he has nothing from French culture, everything is American. The posters, the boxing culture and the black panther poster. The main theme of escapism is by the constant references to American culture throughout. The music when Hubert is in his room, the haircut Sayid gets, and the scene when the rap song is played throughout the whole project for everyone to hear, showing the conflict and the need for escapism through American rap.
Conflict is a constant theme throughout the film, whether it be internally against each other in the projects, uniting with each other against the authorities, or just through the divide created through poverty against the projects and the City Centre. This is shown in correlation with the conflict of ethnicity when the three go to see Asterix and the police
Conflict between the projects and the authorities is created straight away in the montage in the intro. It is worth noting the clips were deliberately manipulated to appear as a linear series of events, where we see the protestors harmlessly dancing and not damaging anything or anyone. Then the police strike first, using unreasonable force against them, which sparks of this 'war' between the two. You see the police gearing up for effectively what is war, whereas the protestors are under armed. Through the manipulation of the clips, we see the divide, and we side with the protestors, because we see them as the victim in the situation. The song choice was a bold choice, Burnin' and Lootin' by Bob Marley, this was because the meaning behind Bob as a spearhead for fighting the system, and the lyrics support this. "This morning, I woke up in a curfew."
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