La Haine: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity- for Everyone?

La Haine (Kassovitz, 1995) tells the story of three young men who are second generation immigrants living in the Banlieue in France. The film focuses on the relationship they have with the police and the racial and class discrimination they face. As well as the struggle of where they fit in culturally, are they French or are they of their parent’s heritage? The French slogan is Liberté, égalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, fraternity) yet looking at Kassovitz film it seems that this is not always true for all that live in France. 

 

"Given that the Banlieue is also the principal location of France's marginalised ethnic minorities, cinematic representations of the Banlieue cannot easily ignore the representation of ethnic differences.” (Tarr, 2012). This is true of La Haine as it was filmed on location it gives a questionably true representation of life in the Banlieue. As La Haine takes place in the days following a riot from the beginning the audience can see how the citizens, especially the youth, of the Banlieue are unfairly targeted by the police due to their ethnicity. It has been reported that people have died from police slip ups whilst being held in custody and police brutality, this is also shown in La Haine “in one famous scene, two policemen sadistically molest Hubert and Saïd while a trainee officer watches.” (Vincendeau, 2012). This is further shown in the ending of the movie when Saïd and Vinz are stopped by the police for no reason resulting in Vinz being shot accidently by the police officer. Such police brutality and harassment shows how the French slogan of liberty, equality and fraternity does not apply to the second generation immigrants. 

 Throughout La Haine there is also the theme that the young people growing up in the Banlieue do not feel that they fit into one culture, they are torn between being French and whatever their parents culture may be. The boys also seem to have turned away from choosing either identity and have looked to American culture instead. When we enter Vinz’s house we see Jewish iconography throughout the house however, as soon as we enter his room it is filled with American iconography. “Vinz does a De Niro imitation (“Who you talkin' to?”). There's break-dancing in the movie. Perhaps they like U.S. culture because it is not French, and they do not feel very French, either.” (Ebert, 1996). This point that Ebert makes can be evidenced further through the dj set in which two different generations songs are mixed together to perhaps signify the torn identities. The way in which their identities are torn signifies that they do not feel part of the fraternity that France expresses every French citizen is a part of.

In conclusion it is apparent that the way in which La Haine portrays life in France shows that liberty, equality and fraternity is not the case for everyone. As for mentioned the film shows how racial inequality is very apparent not only in the banlieues but also in the cities as well. The alienation of the boys in Paris is signified through the dolly back zoom and the whole film being in black and white shows the bleakness of there lives.

Student Blog:

The student blog https://up747885.wordpress.com/page/2/ in my opinion is excellent. Its layout is very engaging and easy to follow with many pictures and video clips to break up the text. It shows lots of evidence of research and subject knowledge of the films especially in the post ‘Is Humanising Hitler Problomatic?’

Bibliography

Ebert, R. (1996, April 19). Hate (La Haine). Retrieved April 2015, from RogerEbert: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hate-la-haine-1996

Kassovitz, M. (Director). (1995). La Haine [Motion Picture]. France.

Tarr, C. (2012). Reframing Difference: Beur and Banlieue Filmmaking in France. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Vincendeau, G. (2012, May 8th). La haine and after:Arts, Politics, and the Banlieue. Retrieved from Current : http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/642-la-haine-and-after-arts-politics-and-the-banlieue

The Devil's Backbone: more Fantasy than Fact?

The Spanish Civil War was fought between the years of 1936 and 1939 and has had a huge impact on Spanish citizens. The war was fought between the Republicans and the Nationalists (Fascists) who were led by Francisco Franco and ultimately won the war (click this link for a brief video overview of the Spanish Civil war). During Franco's rule of Spain films were highly censored showing the civil war not as a horrible battle but a holy crusade. After Franco's death however filmmakers were free to make films as they wished and many films about the Spanish civil war were released. One key director who made films which were set during the Civil War is Guillermo Del Toro.

Guillermo Del Toro on set ofThe Devil's Backbone.

Del Toros’s film The Devil’s Backbone (Toro G. d., 2001) is set during the civil war and shows a boys orphanage in the Spanish countryside, where one night a bomb lands and a boy is murdered who then proceeds to haunt the orphanage. The plot of the film sounds reminiscent of a children’s ghost story, pure fantasy. However, the ghost story shows more than this, it signifies the loss of innocence that occurred in children during the civil war as seen in other films such as Butterfly Tongue (Cuerda, 1999). This is emphasised at the end of the film when all of the adults have died and “children- the most vulnerable potential victims- must themselves resort to violence in order to save their lives and re-establish any sense of humanist values and of a civilized culture.” (Derry, 2009 ). Del Toro said himself in an interview that he wanted “the ghost story to prove the same thing that I wanted to prove in Pan's Labyrinth, that is the only real monsters are human.” (Toro G. D., 2006). This is shown through the character of Jacinto who represents the fascist side whose greed ultimately becomes his downfall as the gold weighs him down when he is pushed into the water.

Santi- The Ghost 

When thinking of how the supernatural is important in Del Toros films it could be seen as metaphorical, Santi haunting the children can be seen as a metaphor for how the civil war will always haunt Spain. This allegory of the ghost being likened to the war can be furthered in the Doctor's final speech in which he says “What is a Ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? A moment of pain perhaps.” (Toro G. d., 2001) The same answer could be said if the word ghost was simply changed to war. “Although the orphanage lies on a remote and dusty plateau far away from the front line, the threat and dread of war is omnipresent.” (Smith, 2001). This is shown from the constant presence of the bomb in the courtyard, the mention of the civil war throughout the film and the men being lined up and shot when Dr Casares goes into town.

 

The Bomb in the Courtyard

In conclusion it can be suggested that The Devil’s Backbone shows an allegorical take on The Spanish Civil War. The fantasy elements in Del Toro’s films means that they “can be interpreted both from national and transnational perspectives” (Davies , Shaw, & Tierney , 2014, p. 84). Audiences who know nothing about the Spanish civil war can still enjoy the film without reading into the deeper meanings.

Bibliography

Cuerda, J. L. (Director). (1999). Butterfly Tounge [Motion Picture]. Spanish .

Davies , A., Shaw, D., & Tierney , D. (2014). The Transnational Fantasies of Guillermo Del Toro. London: Palgrave Macmillan.

Derry, C. (2009 ). Dark Dreams 2.0: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film from the. Washington : McFarland .

Smith, N. (2001, November 27). The Devil's Backbone . Retrieved March 25, 2015, from BBC Film Reviews: http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2001/11/26/the_devils_backbone_2001_review.shtml

Toro, G. d. (Director). (2001). The Devil's Backbone [Motion Picture]. Spain.

Toro, G. D. (2006, November 21). Guillermo Del Toro. (M. Kermode, Interviewer) The Guardian .

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La Haine: Liberty, Equality, Fraternity- for Everyone?