Critique of La Haine - Essay Example

Critique of La Haine The La Haine depicts a ical French film. French filmmaker, Mathieu Kassovitz directed the film that manifests alienation racism, and violence in French suburbs (Kassovitz Film). The director shows how unemployment and discrimination fuels violent anger among French youths. La Haine shows how French youths adopted the American hip hop culture to express their frustration on the mistreatment meted on immigrants and the poor. Indeed, the film introduces three protagonists (Said, Vinz, and Hubert) from different ethnic backgrounds residing in a banlinue of Paris, France (Kassovitz Film).

Apparently, Said is an Arab, Hubert is an African, and Vinz is a Jew. The film shows that the ugly housing estate in Paris does not affect do not affect the youth. Mathieu Kassovitz shot the film in black and white to profess racial strife and disaffected youth in France (Kassovitz Film). Indeed, the film focuses on the common challenges experienced by mixed-race groups against bad cops and bourgeois community. For example, the film depicts three angry unemployed youths experiencing albeit with anger their friend suffering from police brutality (Kassovitz Film).

This is the best film associated with the hip hop generation of the French suburbs. Apparently, French youths use French rap to resist discrimination, alienation, and oppression based on race and class. Although the film penetrated the global audience it also portrayed the adverse effects of adopting the popular American culture in France as seen in the case of police brutality. The film focuses on issues of class and not of race where it seemingly ignores racism. For example, the film the protagonists argue that the minority and the poor cannot get weapons to protect themselves yet the wealthy and powerful can easily access guns for protection (Kassovitz Film).

The La Haine shows the differences between the French hip hop and American hip hop culture. Notably, the French hip hop generation is mixed since it entails a hybrid of popular culture and multiethnic people who do not profess French nationality but have popular French products. Indeed, unlike American rappers, French rappers come from different ethnicities. For example, the protagonists had different standard French identity despite sharing France as their birth place (Kassovitz Film). Their cultural heritage (Arab, African, and Jew) exposed them to mistreatment and alienation.

Although the La Haine manifests the alternate French national identity, it might be difficult to use it in a classroom. In fact, the film depicts a false impression of a permanently imperfect French society compared to the popular American society (Kassovitz Film). Works Cited Kassovitz, Mathieu, dir. La Haine Hate.Canal+, 1995. Film