lavieenrosie ASKED:
What is your favorite movie?
In this film, what is your scene you like best. And your favorite character.
( i wanna see pics, pleasezzz =D )
Thanks for the question!
Heh if you ask one filmmaker what their favorite movie is ten times, you’ll likely get ten different answers, depending on the season or what mood they’re in. But for consistency sake I’ll have to say my favorite movie is La Haine (aka ‘HATE’) by Mattieu Kassovitz. It’s the movie that made me want to become a filmmaker, in that it had a crazy energy and visual inventiveness (done on a minuscule budget), dealt with the same issues of race and multiculturalism that I was dealing with in my life, and had some of the best performances and writing that I’ve ever seen. I can watch the film over and over and never get tired of it, and each time I discover something new about it.
As for my favorite scene in the film, there are many. But if I had to absolutely choose my favorite, it would be the Cut Killer DJ turntable scene in the Paris ghetto. It encapsulates the juxtaposition of unbridled creativity of the underrepresented youth culture with the prison of public housing. It shows art as a way to elevate out of the ruins (literally, with a flying camera) and a way to fuel hope to the masses. It’s a gorgeously shot sequence, and one that has no equal in modern cinema. All of the fancy camera techniques of Gaspar Noe and Alfonso Cuaron were predated by Kassovitz, who did his work on a fraction of the budget.
It’s very difficult for me to pick a favorite character from the film, as the three leads are fused together like blood brothers, so it’s hard to separate them. But I’d have to say that the character of Hubert, played beautifully by Hubert Koundé, resonated the most with me. His was the story of a young black man who was trying desperately to do the right thing (yes, that is a nod to one of my other all-time favorite films), despite the overwhelming societal and racial forces that are designed to make him fail. His final resolution in the closing shot of the film is shattering, as he decides what is most important to him.
But Hubert is a reflection of his brothers, and they altogether deliver one of the (if not the) finest ensemble performances in modern cinema. It was the launchpad for Vincent Cassel, who has easily demonstrated that he is one of the best actors of his generation. Cassel’s contribution however is just a part of the overall confluence of talent, vision and pure craft that so rarely graces us in film. It is, in my opinion, a perfect film, one that bristles with the raw independent energy of youth but has the refinement and craft of the finest studio films. I can’t recommend it enough.
11 notes
-
chuckmeister8 liked this
-
the-srinimatographer liked this
-
legalizeexpression liked this
-
iamthemovieblog liked this
-
themoonbog liked this
-
bsting said:
i love La Haine! such a great film, i haven’t thought about it in a while and now i’m definitely gonna re watch it
-
lavieenrosie liked this
-
edinaziz said:
+10 points for La Haine!!!!!!!!
-
lilithfilm posted this
