LA HAINE**** bravo bravo, this is one of the few films that I gave 4* to
Drame - Durée :1h35
de Mathieu Kassovitz
avec Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé et Saïd Taghmaoui
I have come across this movie many many times in various countries in various film festivals and in cinemas, cinematheques, I even have a copy of the DVD; but i have never viewed the film.
Finally I did today - to my surprise, it was shown in a regular large fancy screening room in the frame work of a special viewing in my neighbourhood cinema and a session for cinephiles - as a course work for a high school history class. So the room was full of 17, 18 yr olds plus the school master, the teacher, the assistant teachers; and because i was v late, they end up all sitting next to me.
What a film, quick paced, and very sympathetic characters of youths in the cité (low rental housing projects). Not a moment of pause in the running violence of immigrant neighbourhood. The violence is not only in the youth but also in the police, the other side. This is not the France of Gucci, LV, and semi nude models in lacy underwear on posters at ordinary bus stops; it is focused on the other end. And the kindness and humour we see in underdogs - in many scenes, its very realistic and not at all posed. There is very little "white lies" we feel its a gut film.
Vincent Cassel a handsome white voyou guy, a v nice black guy Hubert Koundé, and a half crazed cute Algerian-French guy Saïd Taghmaoui - the trio goes around town dealing w their problems. All details very interesting.
In this film also, there is a scene where a guy impersonates the Robert de Niro character in Taxi Driver - and Vincent Cassel did a v gd version of it - hes got "du chien".
This reminds me of the film Un , Deux, Trois, Soleil, with Mastrioianni who plays the life of an Italian immigrant in Marseille where he wakes up int he morning goes to work, exhausted, cant find his apt, and flopped into any apt, in any bed, a black family bed - and nobody is astonished, he slept and gets up and tries to find his real home - which is not in any of the apts of Marseille, but finally in a boat, retirement to Italy, his homeland. Sweet and Sour films of the the other end of the French world.
LES CHEMINS DE LA LIBERTE V.F. **half
Drame - Durée : 2h15
de Peter Weir
avec Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell
Nice scenarios, story about camaraderie, basically a long hike through the snow, desert, looking for water, some kindly chit chat, eating snakes, catching fish, coming to the great wall, (the Great wall is very low here? it looks like a wall in your friends backyard!) finally into India! It not very moving, but still a very nice picturesque film - National Geographics Entertainment - yes.
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