SSC Film Studies

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Jacob Stuart

 

 

10/02/2015 

 

 

To:  Jacob Stuart

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

The conflict represented in La Haine is displayed as a divide between the hierarchies of society, that being the people of the les banlieues segregated upon the outskirts of Paris, and the people of Paris itself. The characters of Vinz, Hubert and Saiid in my opinion represent a realistic depiction of what it’d be like to live in Paris as an ethnic minority and this is due purely to their race.  This is because of the French and Algerian war that took place in 1945 to 1962 in which many Algerians fled to France after their gain of independence due to them being promised access to the country if they were to join the French forces. The Setif massacre that took place on May 8^th 1945 also, ultimately fuelled the battle for independence, and in some ways justifies Saiid’s hatred of the French government because of adopting his families hegemonic ideologies, this lead to the death of an estimated 45,000 Algerians. Initially after Algeria gained its independence the Algerians who were promised access to France were granted it, this lead to an increase of banlieues being made to accommodate the increase in rising numbers. This then became the catalyst for right wing political parties to rise and fascist skin-head movements to follow. This surprisingly was deemed acceptable upon French society and still is in the 21^st century, which leads to mass protests between the ethnic minorities of the banlieues and French government. 

The opening sequence of La Haine determines the message and ideologies the film is attempting to promote through the use of archive footage. The shot in which the Molotov cocktail hits the image of Earth prepares us to engage in the anarchist like view that the characters have and suggests the movie is anti-establishment. The use of Archive footage helps assert the movies very real message that it is a comment upon the brutality and treatment of anyone ‘non-French’, even if they’re born in France. The archive footage helps us align with the protestors rather than the riot police, this is because of the amount of protestors in comparison of riot police there is. This use of mediation manipulates us to align with the protestors as we see them overwhelmed by a large force of masked men, which can connote the divide between French and ‘Non-French.’ The use of non-diegetic music also helps create the cinematic world that we are being transported to, as the song in the midst of the archive footage is ‘Burnin & Lootin’ by Bob Marley & The Wailers in which the lyrics them self have a very clear message of confrontation against some form of fascist government.