The document discusses the film 'La Haine' and its portrayal of violence, police brutality, and social issues in the French suburbs (banlieues). It highlights the impact of black and white cinematography in conveying the film's harsh realities, while showcasing the differing perspectives of the main characters towards the police after experiencing brutality. The narrative parallels real-life police conflicts in France and emphasizes the socio-economic disparities affecting marginalized communities.

1. La Haine
Jonathan Skewes, Elizabeth DeBerardinis,
Beate Aguayo, and Kathy

2. In the opening scene, there are a lot of people running around, going from
store to store to break things, breaking public property, some try to fight
another, there were things burning on the street. There were many police try
to stop them, and got injured.
The music played in the opening scene was Burnin’ and Lootin by Bob
Marley, and the song sends the message that people need to stands up for
their rights. The government was taking advantage of the poor, and only
helping the rich The introduction music remind me of some events in French
history, where lower class people did not get treated fairly, there were
farmers who work at the farm but did not get to own the land. They always
have to pay taxes and rent.

3. According to the author of one blog, Cinéma Engagé is
designed to give unjust systems, like the police in La Haine, a
bad name. Fiomakers choose this type of work to defend
minorities. An example of this is how the public were amazed
to see what life was like in les banlieues. They saw how violent
the police acted towards the people. The movie caused a lot of
talk as well because of its controversial subject matter and
how the police were represented as violent and racist.
(Article cited written by Charlotte Harel, Helena Rodriguez,
and Margaux Le Roy)

4. The director of La Haine, Mathieu Kassovitz, put the movie in black and
white for many reasons. It was originally shot in color and then he made it
into black and white. I think it really helps to set the mood of the movie to
give it a cold harsh feeling, which goes with the violence. The police try to
control the people through violence and abuse their power. The use of black
and white also expresses the idea of accepting a situation that you are given
and having to deal with it. It does this by linking the real footage from the
news reports that we watch in the beginning of the movie in the opening
credits. Lastly, I think the use of black and white cinematography makes the
movie seem like a documentary (Turner) . It makes people feel like they are
learning about life in the banlieues. The main feeling that was generated
throughout this movie was resentment to the police, and this was also
generated by the use of black and white imagery. Black and white are polar
opposites, so the director used this to show the stark differences between
the citizens of the banlieues and the police.

5. Two of the three main characters didn’t have true
hatred for the police, and one of them, Hubert, said
that they were they to protect them. However, the
two characters who don’t hate the police are
victims of police brutality. This changes their views
on the police because now they have experienced
police brutality.

6. There still are racial tensions and conflicts that characterize French society
today. One article that I found that talked about recent police brutality was
about how an anti-police protest turned very violent in the city of Rennes.
The youth wore masks to protect their identity. Protesters became
extremely violent in response to the death of a 21 year old activist Remi
Fraisse. He was killed during an explosion that occurred when brutal
clashes with police broke out at the site of contested-dam project in
southwestern France. The protesters reacted by hurling flairs at police and
even flipping cars over. The police fired tear gas at the protesters. This riot
also put pressure on the government. This article is just one example of
how conflicts with police still occur in French Society today. We can also
see strong ties from this article to the movie La Haine, because we see
how poorly the police treat their people in the riots .
http://rt.com/news/201179-france-activist-death-clashes/

8. Vinz
• Jewish
• Wants revenge on police
• Represents the upset
people in the banlieues

9. Hubert
• Afro-French
• Boxer
• Mature
• Pro police, but once he is a victim
of police brutality, his views of
the police change
• Believes that as long as the youth
disrespect the police, the police
will disrespect the youth

10. Saïd
• Represents the North
African, Muslim population
• Young
• Sidekick
• Gets the group in trouble
with a wealthy guy in
downtown Paris

11. • According to Erin Schroeder, the banlieues are a predominantly working-class
industrial suburb of Paris. These working-class industrial suburbs are
made up of numerous immigrant cultures which create an incredibly diverse
population as well as various national problems. As we saw in La Haine,
each of the three main characters has significantly different cultural
backgrounds which causes them to have different views regarding the
situation with the police. While the three boys have differing views on how
to deal with the police because of what happened to Abdel, the three all
seem to have a consensus regarding their disposition towards authority
figures. There is an obvious lack of respect between the youth and the police
in these industrial suburbs. As Schroeder says, “In the contemporary context,
unemployment is high, housing is crumbling, and periodic bursts of youth
protest lead the national government to prescribe an almost permanent riot
police presence in the most explosive or "hot" neighborhoods (les quartiers
chauds)”.

12. • The movie utilizes the expression “a zoo you visit in your car” in reference to the
banlieues. This expression is used to illustrate the way which these working-class
suburbs are almost completely cut off from any association or connection with
central Paris. Because the banlieues are so effectively cut off from the outside
world, they are somewhat enclosed in their own world and as a result have created
walls which separate this world from the rest of Paris. This separation has allowed
the rest of Paris look at the banlieues and the people that live there as one would
look at animals in a zoo. These working-class suburbs are merely a spectacle for
the rest of Paris to gawk at when driving by. Amy Siciliano, from the University of
Toronto describes how the camera positioning in La Haine contributes to the
overall illustration of how the rest of Paris views people from the banlieues, “We
observe the youths’ hostile interactions with the crew; their relative position to
them in a playground below ground level; their projected image, which oscillates
between the view of the La Haine: Framing the ‘Urban Outcasts’ 224
cinematographer and the cameraman; and ultimately how the youth themselves are
acutely aware of their ‘safari-like’ appearance” (Siciliano, Amy).

13. • La Haine portrays the banlieues as an area of dilapidated apartment buildings with
graffiti on almost every wall. Youth cover the streets as the majority of them are
outside playing, walking, meeting friends, selling and buying drugs, etc. The youth
which fill the streets of the banlieues are clearly not children of wealth. Most of
them are wearing simple clothing that looks worn out. The jungle gyms which we
see Vinz, Hubert, and Said hangout at are not updated, clean or even safe looking.
Every single detail of the banlieues is depressing and illustrates the government’s
lack of concern for this area of Paris. Adele Chapman, successfully describes the
way in which the film depicts the banlieues in an article for Entertainment Scene
360, “The whole estate looks dirty because of the high volume of graffiti on
almost everything. There are lots of high rise flats, which house lots of people, but
each flat is small. The banlieue looks very small and claustrophobic, almost prison
like” (Chapman, Adele).

16. The final scene was inevitable. At the end, there was a man driving a car and
approaching the three main characters. He had a light flashing on top of his
car, so he could be a policeman, but he was not in uniform. He killed Vinz and
wanted to kill another character. Hubert was closing his eyes, which sows he
could already see how the scene is going to play out. The best illustration of
the relationship between youth and police in the banlieues is this scene. Phillip
Cartelli explains this relationship in his review of La Haine by saying, “The
shocking eruption of violence that ends the film serves as both a warning, and
documentation of the pressures to which those on all sides of banlieue life are
subjected”.

18. Sources
• Cartelli, Phillip. "La Haine (1995) France." Rev. of Film. Film International 2008: 62-64. Print.
• Chapman, Adele. "Movie Analysis the Representation of the Banlieue in La Haine." Entertainment Scene 360. N.p., 18 June 2007. Web. 23
Oct. 2014. http://www.entertainmentscene360.com/index.php/movie-analysis-the-representation-of-the-banlieue-in-la-haine-43462/.
• Harel, Charlotte, Helena Rodriguez, and Margaux Le Roy. "Le Cinéma Engagé : TPE 1ES3." Le Cinéma Engagé : TPE 1ES3. N.p., Jan. 2011.
Web. 21 Nov. 2014. http://cinema-engage.blogspot.com/.
• Morrisey, Jim. Je t’aime—moi non plus; Franco-British cinematic relations. New York: Berghahn Books, 2010. Print.
• Schroeder, Erin. “A Multicultural Conversation: La Haine, Raï, and Menace II Society.” Camera Obscura 16.1 (2001): 143-179. Web. 23 Oct.
2014.
• Siciliano, Amy. La Haine. Harlow: Longman, 2000. ACME Editorial Collective, 2007. Web. 23 Oct. 2014. http://www.acme-journal.
org/vol6/ASi.pdf.
• Turner, Pete. "La Haine." STATIC MASS EMPORIUM RSS. METATEMPUS, 30 Nov. 2012. Web. 24 Oct. 2014.
http://staticmass.net/deconstructing-cinema/la-haine/.
• West, M Joan. “La Haine.” Cinéaste. 33.1 (2007): 76-77. Web 24 Oct. 2014.
• Photo of Vinz taken from Dr. Guy Spielmann’s blog titled France: Culture banlieues. He works at Georgetown University.
http://faculty.georgetown.edu/spielmag/docs/france/LaHaine.htm.
• Photo of Hubert taken from shipintv.com. Article published by Grinchu on July 15, 2013. Article titled Hubert Koundé.
http://shpintv.com/hubert-kounde/
• Photo of Saïd taken from an article titled France/Benin/Morocco: Jodie Foster on "La Haine”. Published on September 7, 2009 for bombastic
element. http://www.bombasticelement.org/2009/09/francebeninmorocco-jodie-foster-on-la.html
• Screenshots of les banlieues, the train, and the police brutality scene all taken from Blu-ray.com. The article was written on May 8, 2012, and
it’s titled La Haine Blue-ray. http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/La-Haine-Blu-ray/38677/#Screenshots.
• Photo of final scene taken from minineyes’s tumblr blog. Posted three months ago. http://minineyes.tumblr.com