La Haine - Stylistic Choices

The stylistic choices made by filmmakers define not just the look but also the meaning of the film. How far is this true of the films you have studied for this topic? 

I would argue that, with La Haine, the stylistic choices made by the director are essential - the film seems to be in two halves, based in both the projects and the city of Paris. This in itself is the determining factor for a lot of the artistic choices made both visually and thematically. For example, the cinematography in the projects is a lot more liberal and free-moving than that in the streets of Paris, in which the camera remains static for the majority. When the dj sets up his equipment in front of his apartment window and plays music through the projects, the camera drifts away and manoeuvres just above the rooftops of the projects. We are forced to look out upon a sea of nameless, cloned rooftops, geometrically comparing to that of a prison complex, or even a maze. Here, the director is proving to the audience that there truly is nowhere for our characters to go - ambition starts and ends at the dire, model-town walls of Les Banlieues.

In contrast, the Parisian streets resemble the alley ways of a crime-riddled 'noir' city. Paris is stripped of its sugar coating and gold occlusion, diminished of any utopian conceptions the audience hold for the 'city of love.' The black and white colour grading emphasises the harsh reality of the projects, but also positions Paris as a bare, undesirable mass. Additionally, the stillness of the camera in comparison to the once nimble-looking aesthetic comes as a shock to the system; the director portrays to us the restricting nature of French 'assimilation.'