From France comes one of the finest crime movies I've seen in recent times. I wouldn't hesitate to put it alongside a modern masterpiece like City of God. Jacques Audiard's is not as technically inventive as Fernando Meirelle's movie, but in its linear plot it also tells a brutal story about a man who has nothing else to hold on to other than a life of crime.
Malik El Djebena is a young Arab man who arrives at a penitentiary without knowing anything about prison life, without connections inside and without friends outside. In short, prison is about to become a manual for life. And what he learns is how to kill people, outguess inmates, mediate between gangs, set up his own drug business and other useful knowledge that will be useful in his future life of crime outside. Because in spite of his corruption, Malik is an exemplary inmate, protected by other inmates and with certain perks, like having half a day outside prison to work in an honest job, as part of his rehabilitation process.
Outside prison he performs missions for the prison Kingpin, a Corsican named César, who's taken Malik under his wing after he killed a snitch for him. César, like the other racist Corsicans who run the prison, thinks Malik is just an ignorant Arab and yet as time goes by he becomes the only person the kingpin can trust. Entrusting him with secret knowledge about his operations, César cannot see his impending downfall as Malik negotiates with his business partners.
A Prophet portrays the world as a ruthless place without real friendship or love, just business transactions, fear, useful alliances and the pretence of trust when it suits someone. It's a world where people have to be outsmarting each other all the time, and it's a game at which Malik excels as he learns everything about everyone while keeping a low profile as a worthless, dumb Arab. Finally, it's a world where old debts aren't forgotten and where revenge is always at the back of one's mind.
Tahar Rahim steals the show as the initially confused and fragile Malik, who slowly becomes the ruthless, hardened leader of a criminal organisation. Niels Arestrup plays the old César, a top criminal who's slowly losing all the influence and power inside his prison without realising it. The two actors had an amazing chemistry and the viewer can't help wondering if there was any genuine trust or friendship between the two, or if they simply used each other, so complex and nuanced were their performances.
A Prophet is an outstanding movie, an example of the good cinema still made nowadays, amidst all the mediocrity. It's intelligent, brutal, funny, exciting and sad. In sum, it's a complete and perfect cinematic experience.
Malik El Djebena is a young Arab man who arrives at a penitentiary without knowing anything about prison life, without connections inside and without friends outside. In short, prison is about to become a manual for life. And what he learns is how to kill people, outguess inmates, mediate between gangs, set up his own drug business and other useful knowledge that will be useful in his future life of crime outside. Because in spite of his corruption, Malik is an exemplary inmate, protected by other inmates and with certain perks, like having half a day outside prison to work in an honest job, as part of his rehabilitation process.
Outside prison he performs missions for the prison Kingpin, a Corsican named César, who's taken Malik under his wing after he killed a snitch for him. César, like the other racist Corsicans who run the prison, thinks Malik is just an ignorant Arab and yet as time goes by he becomes the only person the kingpin can trust. Entrusting him with secret knowledge about his operations, César cannot see his impending downfall as Malik negotiates with his business partners.
A Prophet portrays the world as a ruthless place without real friendship or love, just business transactions, fear, useful alliances and the pretence of trust when it suits someone. It's a world where people have to be outsmarting each other all the time, and it's a game at which Malik excels as he learns everything about everyone while keeping a low profile as a worthless, dumb Arab. Finally, it's a world where old debts aren't forgotten and where revenge is always at the back of one's mind.
Tahar Rahim steals the show as the initially confused and fragile Malik, who slowly becomes the ruthless, hardened leader of a criminal organisation. Niels Arestrup plays the old César, a top criminal who's slowly losing all the influence and power inside his prison without realising it. The two actors had an amazing chemistry and the viewer can't help wondering if there was any genuine trust or friendship between the two, or if they simply used each other, so complex and nuanced were their performances.
A Prophet is an outstanding movie, an example of the good cinema still made nowadays, amidst all the mediocrity. It's intelligent, brutal, funny, exciting and sad. In sum, it's a complete and perfect cinematic experience.