La Haine Film Analysis

The release of La Haine in 1995 has created an important conversation in France. This dialogue is based on the French identity and the groups have been considered outsiders in French society. Film director Mathieu Kassovitz conveys this idea through an unusual group of friends. That is comprised of Hubert, Vinz, and Said. Hubert is a Black African, Sayid is an Arab, and Vinz is a White Jew. All have grown up in the banlieues, the Parisian suburbs, in an impoverished housing project. La Haine gives a sensible account of what it is like to be a banlieue youth. At the time of the movie release, there was a lot of social discord in France. Within that one year, 1995, when the movie was released there were seven bombings in France, wounding hundreds …show more content…

Based on these events and others, the overall attitude of anger in France. This led to protests and a distrust of authority. These ongoing events set the tone for the film La Haine, whose opening scenes depicted the prevailing rage. In light of the current predicament in France, the director used clips from actual news footage of rioting scenes. As the clips rolled, the song “Burnin and Lootin” by Bob Marley mirrored the explicit images which. portrayed people burning down stores and physical altercations between police officers and civilians. Kassovitz initiates a discussion about the relationship between the police and civilians that is explored throughout the film. Throughout the film, Kassovitz makes a social commentary on the minority population in France, who do not depict the ideal “French Identity.” He discloses that the low-income minority in France are considered outsiders with few prospects or hope of making it out of the …show more content…

Nonetheless, one can still notices that Vinz doesn’t necessarily feel like he fits in with his friends. He is a low-income minority born in the projects of France--but he is still white. He tries to prove how he’s just like the others by acting hyper-masculine and impulsive. When he finds the gun, it as if he has found some sort of “hidden power.” Armed now with more courage. He is willing to kill a cop in the name of the friend placed in a coma due to police brutality. He romanticizes prison, saying he wouldn’t mind going to jail because he would get to sleep, eat, and lift weights. He also states that among the crew he is the only one who hasn’t been to jail, as if it is a rite of passage. I believe the inclusion of Vinz allowed Kassovitz to assert that even White people, though a criteria for being ideally French, does not necessarily meet the mold of what it means to be French. A character like, Vinz is stuck between two worlds: poor and subject to religious discrimination, yet privileged being White, but not White enough to be considered “French.” One can recognize that Vinz is aware of his privilege when Hubert and Sayid are stopped by the police as they leave Snoopy's apartment, but he pretends that he does not know them in order to avoid a run in with the cops. It was so easy for him to pretend that a White man such as himself couldn’t entertain friends such as Sayid and