SECTION A; URBAN STORIES – POWER, CONFLICT AND POVERTY

How far should the films you have studied for this topic be seen in relation to their particular time and place? [35]

In my topic I have studied La Haine and City of God.

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. 

La Haine opens with a montage depicting various shots of police brutality and riots. The montage of riot footage grounds the film in reality and creates a ‘realist framework’ that the film takes place within. This prepares the audience for a realistic account of Parisian life. Not even a minute into the film the audience is being manipulated by the director to already view the police as antagonists. This reinforces the message and the themes of the film. Hubert narrates over it –‘Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: So far so good... so far so good... so far so good. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land.’  This is a metaphor for how Hubert sees the world, how it is evitable going to fall into chaos. The shot of the firebomb also reflects Hubert’s anti-establishment worldview – apocalyptic and ending in flames.

During the montage, the audiences see rioters and police officers battling it out. Their surroundings look like a warzone. This challenges the audiences’ expectations of Paris being this beautiful, shining city of romance and art. The police are militarised with batons, guns and body armour – they are preparing for an all out war. This is another instance where the director manipulates the audience. Seeing how well prepared the police are creates sympathy for the people of the projects as the police are being portrayed as a threat and being powerful and dangerous. Even the song being played in the background, the perfectly chosen ‘Burnin’ and Lootin’ by Bob Marley, corresponds with this. The lyric ‘all dressed in uniforms of brutality’ shows the full extent of how vulnerable the civilians are against the police and their abusive power.  This encourages the audience more to view the police as brutal and antagonistic.

Another shot were the police are shown negatively is when the scene first cuts to protestors innocently dancing. Quickly the scene changes to police acting violently and instigating an attack against the protestors. They protestors engage them in an act of self-defence. The police here almost look like they are enjoying the violence. Here the citizens are being shown as oppressed and heroic, the juxtaposition to the police’s portrayal.  The difference between the two factions is reinforced multiple times by the director, even to the point actors playing the police get separate credits to those who play people from the projects. This is all clever propaganda by the director to quickly give his audience the main themes of the film.  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.

The art gallery scene, where the issue of social class is presented can be seen in relation to the time the film is set. 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.

La Haine challenges the audience expectations throughout the entire film as it was written by Kassovitz to comment on the social position of non-French people in the projects. This being said there are certain scenes that attempt to challenge expectations more than others. The montage scene at the start was used by Kassovitz to present the 'real' Paris and not the unrealistic representation that we are fed through the media and other films such as Amelie which present Paris as bright, beautiful and the city of love. The montage shows real footage of riots and police brutality in Paris over a 10 year time gap but it is edited as if it all happened the previous night. Kassovitz does this to try to link the montage to the storyline as it is based the day after a young non-French male is killed during a riot. There is a certain shot in which a group of peaceful protesters dance in front of the police, not doing any harm but trying to voice their opinion. The shot then cuts to a different shot in which a policeman throws a rock at rioters in the distance. He is seen to be 'dancing' as well but in an aggressive and aggravated way which proposes that he is actually enjoying the violence. The shots are edited together to look like they are the same event when in actuality they could of been years apart. These attempts to challenge the audiences expectations as they may not have known about the riots as they haven't been shown in the media to the extent that La Haine showed it.

Fernando Meirelles’ 2002 City of God is set in a lawless slum of Rio De Janeiro, telling the story of aspiring photographer Rocket and his struggles to try and get out of the favelas through his passion of photography.  City of God relates its location to the time and place it is set.  The real word of the slum can be seen to exist in the use of the film’s location. It can be read as ‘street urchin chronicle’ set in a city in the developing world and featuring non-professional actors. The favelas are small, cramped and close together and are made from a mix of materials ranging from brick to rubbish. The communities are plagued by sewage, crime and hygiene problems which lead to a high mortality rate. The effects of this can be seen in the Runts, a small group of hardened orphans who live on the street. Their parents are dead and to survive they have to start a life of crime. Crime is extremely influential in the favelas, the Colombian cocaine trade having impacted the Brazilian favelas. Favelas tend to be run by drug lords, like Lil Ze. There are regular shoot outs between traffickers and police or other criminals are common place, as we as an assortment of other illegal activities.  

City of God’s feel is reflected by its particular time and place. During the 1960’s era the city is bathed in golden light and wide shots present a poor but content community. This contrast with the seventies’ landscape of high rise tower blocks, creating a very intense and claustrophobic setting. It also demonstrates the radical transformation and degeneration of the city.  City of God’s narrative progresses to the early 1970’s, the lighting slowly transitions to a cold blue tint. In the early 1980’s many more scenes are filmed at night. Favelas have taken over and the cramped streets feel far more oppressive and dangerous. This reflects the increase of poverty during the 1970s/80s in Brazil, where 19% of the population lived in poverty. The change in visual style underscores the war between Lil Ze and Carrot. The mise-en-scene shows a city in decay with buildings collapsed and dead bodies littering the streets. This reflects the high murder rate in the favelas, an estimated 40 murders our of a 100,000 is extremely high and is believed to be much higher than the actual statistic.  

In conclusion, both films use narrative and conventions to comment upon power, poverty and conflict in their countries.