La Haine Opening Sequence

The opening sequence of La Haine starts with a protestor facing a row of armed police officers. The unity of officers creates connotations of unity and power by portraying them as soldiers. In juxtaposition the protestor is standing alone with no defence of weapons. He has been positioned in the frame to present the protestor as vulnerable and also heroic. He makes the police look cowardly as they are literally cowering behind their shields whilst the protestor is alone, undefended. It connotes that the police exaggerate their response to protestors especially when the protestor shouts “You have guns, we have only stones.”


The next shot is a montage of police armouring cars. This presents the police as power enforcers, preparing for a war. This again like the first scene juxtaposes with protestors peacefully dancing without harming anyone. Again this connotes that the police exaggerate their response to protestors.


The sequence shows the police first attacking the protestors and then the rioters react. When we are presented with peaceful protestors before this scene, we immediately view the police as the villains as they are presented as the conflict starters. As such we immediately have empathy for the protesters for the police brutality. Sequence of events is seen multiple times throughout the sequence, such as the explosions later on in which they police are seen firing the explosion with protesters setting off petrol bombs afterwards. This sequence makes the audience overlook the criminal acts of the protestors and view the protestors as the heroes for fighting back.


The point of view in the sequence is most commonly from the point of view of the police. This in conjunction with the police helmets mean we rarely see the face of police officers. This connotes that the police are a faceless, brutal force who we cannot identify with as we cannot recognise them as people as we cannot see their faces. This means that we lack any empathy for their situation. This is a clever technique of the director and is another example of how clever camera angles and editing means we are being consciously manipulated.