Movie Review - 'Un Prophète'

Un Prophète Starring Tahar Rahim and Niels Arestrup Directed by Jacques Audiard Rated R

The depiction of prison life in the French film Un Prophète makes Oz look like it's lined by a yellow brick road. Exceedingly tough, sometimes bordering on brutal, it's a film about prisoners that takes no prisoners. Despite a series of scenes that feature some graphic hand-to-hand violence and a grim subject matter that is presented very matter-of-factly, it's impossible to not see the traits that pushed Un Prophète into the Best Foreign Language Film race at the Oscars, and why it received some of the finest reviews of any movie from 2009. There are two views of prison. You can see it as a necessary evil on the path to rehabilitation, through which criminals find the straight and narrow either by the opportunity for introspection and desire for personal growth that confinement can afford or by the fear of returning to the sqaullid hellhole. You can also see prison as a petri dish, one in which people who have committed violent crimes learn how to commit more violent acts in less forgiving and humane ways. This story is squarely in the second column. Malik (Tahar Rahim) enters a French prison at 19. He's illiterate in more ways than one. He is not new to the system, but after a young life spent in the minor leagues (literally and figuratively), this is his first stint in the show. As you're aware, prison has turf wars with heavy consequences. In this case, the guards let the warring Corsicans and Muslims settle their own differences. There's a body count. Malik is part Muslim, part Corsican, so no matter where he ends up, it's going to cause trouble. He is recruited, for lack of a better term, by César Luciani (Niels Arestrup), the head of the Corsican clan and a mafia kingpin on the outside. Under Luciani's tutelage, Malik goes from wet behind the ears to ruthless in almost no time. Just imagine what he becomes by the end of his six-year sentence. Violence has a long and controversial history in the movies, and this is not the place to argue whether or not violent acts stem from impressions made in the media. But what you'll see in Un Prophète is so base and animalistic, it's hard to imagine anyone seeing a glamorous side to it. Director Jacques Audiard (The Beat My Heart Skipped) is keenly aware of the place violence occupies in this story. Much like fellow Foreign Language nominee Michael Haneke (The White Ribbon), Audiard presents the fights, outbursts, and killings in cruel detail. In a couple of instances, he even creates an art out of it. But it's always unspeakably ugly. The side effect of that, in terms of the narrative, is that the violence makes the characters. It's different in American action movies, where a hero can mow down a bank full of criminals with an automatic weapon and mouth off with some one-liner to wrap up the scene. There's no impact. This stuff is kill or be killed, you or the other guy. How could a 19-year-old who lives to see his mid-20s turn out any other way? In addition to being a great film on its own merits, Un Prophète introduces us to Tahar Rahim. His is a staggering performance, one that could have shaken up that rather tepid Best Actor race if, you know, the Oscars took great foreign films seriously at all. He has very few credits at the moment, but that will most certainly change. This tale, playing out like an epic through the first important chapter of a man's life, provides Rahim ample room to find a way into a memorable and completely malleable character. But again, how could he turn out any other way given the circumstances?

Comments

[SEAN]

I WILL SAY THIS>>>>

I was, in my opinion, probably one of the GREATEST foreign films I have ever seen!!!!
It definitly ranks up there as perhaps one of the greatest foreign film ever made....

The movie was brilliant, I mean what dynamics, what complexity, everything inter-connected flawlessly with one another, & each & every character had depth & fullness to them....The script was marvelous just exquisite there no was "fat" or breaks in the film, you are always on your toes & you'll get lucky to let out a sigh before something else happens....
-Not only that but the themes of the film were apparent, it meant something, everything from jealousy, violence, disease, friendship, loyalty, greed... etc etc etc...

An unbelievable acting job by relative newcomer Tahar Rahim... WOW what a performance, what a performance....I definitly agree with you Colin, he honestly could have shook up Best Actor race if nominated...

Foreign films are increasingly getting better in recent times & I hope the US will see that & follow their example instead of the trash they continue to make to profit off

[SEAN]

One question that I do have.....

Why no 5 apes??? I dont think you gave a clear reasoning as to why not, or gave one at all

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