The second half is shot with a longer lens, illustrating the distance of the characters from their environment- in this case, urban Paris, where people stand out from the background. This reflects the closely knitted nature of person, place, and community, particularly in the place where they have been grown up and raised.
The first half is shot with a wide lens, bringing the character’s closer to the environment. The second half is differentiated from the first by an immediate aesthetic change. This segways into the film’s most expensive set piece- a tracking shot of the whole banlieue, set to a live mixing of ‘Nique la Police,’ a remix of the American track ‘Sound of da Police.’ Here, there is a culture, an amalgamation of differences, observed by the gentle gliding of the camera over people and buildings, and the multilingual, sonically eclectic sound of music that is now as French as it is American. The police eventually tell them to leave the rooftop-turned-hangout, and its inhabitants- a diverse set ages and ethnicities- are unified in their refusal, any other petty quarrels set aside. The rooftop scene has the three friends comfortable with their community, enjoying hot dogs and trash-talking the authorities from above.
#La haine meaning movie
Vinz is shown to be a product of his environment- he often compares himself to others, choosing jail over community service because “everyone has done time.” He is influenced by the hardship around him, and by movies themselves- many American films are mentioned, he mimics Travis Bickle, and ducks into a movie theater at one point to gain some respite.Īlmost exactly halfway through the film, a definitive period of communal unity is reached. Hubert, for instance, believes the only way to improve his life is to improve the poverty-stricken banilue , while Vinz believes it can’t be improved. They amiably greet many of their friends, also ethnically heterogeneous, shown to be at home in their environment, with varying degrees of satisfaction. While following these three comrades on their daily routine through the banilue , a sense of community and relative security is established. Hubert’s thoughtfulness sits opposite Vinz’s rashness and violent tendencies- Sayid quite literally the middleman. The first half introduces to us to Vinz, Sayid, and Hubert- Jewish, Arab, and Black, representative of France’s immigrant population, but also vibrant characters in their own right. These chapters are also split down the middle by a two clear-cut halves: the character’s day-to-day life in the banlieues (suburbs) of Paris, and then their excursion into the city itself.
Each of it’s chapters, composed of the many brief moments in a day, lead to one brief moment- Vinz’s death. The notion of a “plot” is subverted and reinvented- the events only become noteworthy because they are leading up to a conclusion, the natural conclusion of the flame of hatred that scorches the whole film- the 20 or so hours leading up to Vinz’s demise are important not so much of because what transpires, but because they are the 20 or so hours leading up to Vinz’s demise. What immediately stands out about La Haine is it’s episodic narrative structure- a ticking countdown lends a sense of progress and significance, as well as tension, to events that might otherwise have no meaning- in this case, the listless exploits of Vinz, Hubert, and Sayid. It’s clipped, clean cinematography captures the urban atmosphere with skill and precision, blending hard-hitting social commentary with a definite sence of cinematic style- jump cuts, borderline surreal sequences, and varied lens choices underscored with hip-hop beats are pervasive and integral to the gritty vibrancy of the film’s atmosphere. La Haine is such a film, a shadow of French society that flicker’s and dances with the heartbeat of it’s characters, in a violent waltz to the uncaring cadences of their urban environments. As time progresses, filmmaker’s have bigger pools of influence to draw from- now, the solemn social realism of postwar Italy could be amalgamated with Nouvelle Vague’s modern sensibilities to craft cinema that reached more deeply into the ethos of its characters and their environments.
0 kommentar(er)
