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The above is a statement that is repeated often throughout the film. It's not how you fall, but how you land. The ironic thing is that it comes at the end of a monologue about a man jumping off a building; a situation where there isn't much of a choice as far as "how you land". But perhaps that is the underlying message in this French film.
Set in the middle of a string of urban riots in Paris, La Haine follows three friends from a poor neighborhood. When one of their friends is injured by the police, each of the three friends face try to see where they land and how to handle it. The hot-tempered Vinz (VIncent Cassel) wants revenge, while the more sensible Hubert (Hubert Koundé) just wants to avoid problems and leave the neighborhood with his family. Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) falls somewhere in between.
Things get more complicated when it is revealed that Vinz has gotten ahold of a revolver that was lost during the riots; something that he plans to use on the police if their friend dies, creating more tension with his two friends. The film follows them through the rest of the day and night as they encounter different groups and situations that will push them to see if they fall, but most importantly, how they land.
All three performances are pretty good, and although Cassel has the showier role, I appreciated the nuances in the performances from Koundé and Taghmaoui. There is a certain looseness to the story that I think works both in favor and against it. Some of the situations the friends find themselves don't work as well as others, but nonetheless, it is interesting to see them face and handle different characters and different types of pressure, all of which end up showing us who they really are.
When the film opens, it is Hubert the one sharing the story about the man that jumps off a building. The story goes that as the man fell past each floor, he kept reassuring himself "so far, so good", as if there was any chance or hope in how he would fall. The same can be said about the friend's journey through the film, where every step might lead them to think things are "so far, so good", not realizing they've been falling all the time. How much of a choice do they really have?
Grade:
LA HAINE
(1995, Kassovitz)
(1995, Kassovitz)
"How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!"
The above is a statement that is repeated often throughout the film. It's not how you fall, but how you land. The ironic thing is that it comes at the end of a monologue about a man jumping off a building; a situation where there isn't much of a choice as far as "how you land". But perhaps that is the underlying message in this French film.
Set in the middle of a string of urban riots in Paris, La Haine follows three friends from a poor neighborhood. When one of their friends is injured by the police, each of the three friends face try to see where they land and how to handle it. The hot-tempered Vinz (VIncent Cassel) wants revenge, while the more sensible Hubert (Hubert Koundé) just wants to avoid problems and leave the neighborhood with his family. Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) falls somewhere in between.
Things get more complicated when it is revealed that Vinz has gotten ahold of a revolver that was lost during the riots; something that he plans to use on the police if their friend dies, creating more tension with his two friends. The film follows them through the rest of the day and night as they encounter different groups and situations that will push them to see if they fall, but most importantly, how they land.
All three performances are pretty good, and although Cassel has the showier role, I appreciated the nuances in the performances from Koundé and Taghmaoui. There is a certain looseness to the story that I think works both in favor and against it. Some of the situations the friends find themselves don't work as well as others, but nonetheless, it is interesting to see them face and handle different characters and different types of pressure, all of which end up showing us who they really are.
When the film opens, it is Hubert the one sharing the story about the man that jumps off a building. The story goes that as the man fell past each floor, he kept reassuring himself "so far, so good", as if there was any chance or hope in how he would fall. The same can be said about the friend's journey through the film, where every step might lead them to think things are "so far, so good", not realizing they've been falling all the time. How much of a choice do they really have?
Grade: