La squale

I was puzzled by the comments posted by another user. Not all French movies are about white people engaged in deep conversation when they're not making love to their best mate's wife or sister. Like the highly regarded film "La Haine," La Squale depicts life on the other side of the tracks.

This was a film about the wretched life of France's minority youth who live in bleak housing projects. Like in any city worldwide where young people comes from broken families and live in squalid public housing, the character in this film are not model citizens. And yes, they are influenced by America's hip hop culture, as are young people in England, China, and many other parts of the world.

This film follows the story of Desiree as she (apparently) starts at a new high school and meets new friends - and enemies. Highly charged, fast moving and never boring. Highly recommended. Great brief appearance by Denis Lavant as The Joker.

Luckily this is not the side of France (all other bad raps aside) that we regularly see or tourism would be worse than that of Detroit.

The thing I found most interesting about this film is the plain language, almost indiscernable at points in its guttural aspects and the fact that it presented French life like many places--plain, miserable at times and a struggle...).

Well acted and technically sound, I won't analyze it here since this is not for the NY Times and some other blow-hard will at some point. Thematically though, I will say it is played out in many a western "gangsta' film as well as some of those which are not either, and in this respect, nothing particularly sets it aside.

However, for a student of the French language it may prove challenging, since I felt it was difficult to follow at times and the mix of "street language" is very cool for upping one's punk vocabulary for sure. This will play better depending on who you are as an audience. What I'd rate it is a relative middle of the road...

I like this film because it's a true, genuine and realistic denunciation of gang rapes. When it was shot, the phenomena was not clearly known, and most of the people did not know these kind of acts could happen in certain neighborhoods. Recently in France (in October 2012), some gang rapers were sentenced to one year jail (only) for these kind of acts. The scandal is not finished yet but this film deserves credit for making light on an awful, misogynous practice in french treacherous suburbs. The actors are inhabitants of these kind of neighborhoods and they talk the same way these people are used to talking. In that sense it's a genuine reproduction of reality.

I found this movie to be an excellent portrayal and representation of the struggles todays young people must endure.

The players in this film were very east to relate to however, challenging to understand their experience.

The movie is fast paced and has a very action oriented base to it. There is certainly plenty of Romance, as well as intense and sometimes graphic sexual violence. Unlike some other American films, this violence does actually help move to story along to its conclusion.

The ending is a representation of friendship and sincerity through a tragic betrayal.

Wonderfully acted, filmed and written - I found this movie to be wonderful as well as deep, thought provoking and interesting.

What struck me about this film was the influence of US culture on the characterisation. Initially I thought I was just superimposing my own preconceptions, but I was lucky enough to attend a screening where the director was there to take questions afterwards. He made the point that a lot of Black and Arab youth culture in France borrows directly from the American idea of 'the ghetto', and from the language of film pornography. Ultimately I was disappointed because I like my French films 'French' (that is to say, coquettish, poetic, and a little existential). But that's not to say that La Squale is an excellent depiction of a very real French way of life - a good example of its genre.