Sorry for the late write-up! Midterms have been pretty much ruling my life!
A Prophet
What a great little film. I heard about this film through various movie sites but never bothered to actually check it out, boy was I taken aback.The film is basically a guy by the name of Malik with Arab decent and his rise through the prison system to become a big boss.When I first read the synopsis of this film to have an idea of what i was going to watch, I was a bit disappointed because it sounded a lot like many other films I've seen (I'm looking at you Scarface). The first thing that i can state about this film is that it clearly stands on its own.
The acting was extraordinary, even though I didn't recognize any of the actors. I loved how intense Niels Arestrup was throughout his whole role in the film. He controlled everyone and everything even though after maybe 30 minutes into the film he lost most of his "gang". I love the way the prison system was portrayed in this film. The prison guards did nothing throughout the movie, even when people were beat up and murdered. They pretty much just went on with their days. Maybe it was a way for Director Jacques Audiard to tell us how corrupted our prison systems are today.
One of the main things that I want to point out in the movie is the various changes in languages. I loved how it jumped from Arabic to French, and this is important because in my opinion it shows the rift in Malik's controversial lifestyle. By the rift, I'm talking about how Malik, even though Arab and most likely Muslim as well, chooses to work for the Corsicans instead. He is hated by both sides (Arabs and Corsicans) but he sticks with his plan. Because of this, you can't help but feel that he is up to something all along. The character Malik is also portrayed as someone with street smarts. We don't really know why he is in prison to began with, but we know that he cannot read nor write. Even though he is illiterate, he is able to come up with various plans and strategies to succeed and become the "boss" in the prison. I love how the director is able to portray Malik as the hero of the film, even though when you really think about it, in the first 10 minutes he commits murder in a cell. I love that the director also gave Malik a conscience, making the guy who he murder keep reappearing in his cell, and giving him advice on what to do. I thought it was quite humorous when Malik is appalled by the smoking coming out of the guys slit throat.
All in all, I really liked this film. I'm really glad I was able to watch it for my Movie dicatorship for March.
7/10