Un prophète

When I read that this movie has more nominations than any other film for the European Film Awards (even more than Slumdog Millionaire) I decided to go and see it. I don't regret this decision and I hope the movie wins all six awards it has been nominated for.

This movie, about a young hoodlum who in prison becomes a dangerous criminal, is in the same league as last years's Gomorra. It shows the life of criminals as it is: tough, merciless and unscrupulous. This film is miles away from the romantic image of maffia-style crime gangs we know from Hollywood. There is no honour here, no attachments, no loyalty. Only self-interest. The style of the film reflects the rawness of its subject. The photography is meant to show life in a prison, not to please our sense of aesthetics.

Why is this such a good film? Because of the radical approach to show us nothing but the raw underbelly of France, but also because of the story which has many aspects. Malik, the central character, has no true identity at all: he is not a religious Muslim (he eats pork), but he is neither French nor Corsican. The members of the Corsican clan to which he is being attached despise him because he is not one of them, and so do the religious Muslims ('les barbus'). Another interesting aspect is the development of the relationship between Malik en the Corsican capo Cesar, with a very powerful apotheosis. And there is the changing of Malik himself of course, who in the beginning of this film seems to be devoid of any emotion at all, but in the end is capable of warm feelings towards his godson and the wife of his terminally ill friend.

After having seen Un Prophète, I regret not having seen Jacques Audiards other films.

At times hard to watch but in the end you come out with the feeling of having watched a masterpiece.

Perfect acting, scenario, directing, cinematography & sound...

This is definitely not a Hollywood production, but the best of what french cinema can be.

Audiard is a great director, having previously made "Read my lips" which i also recommend.

The main actor Tahar Rahim is a revelation, keep an eye on him in the future.

Niels Arestrup is also quite good in his role as a corsican crime boss

The problem with praise is that so much is said and so much is built up that at times it can be quite imposing for me to approach a film to watch it for what it is. This happened with A Prophet, which is why it took me over a year to get around to watching it. The uniformly great praise and the awards all built this film up in my head as something that would be worthy, perhaps a little arty and maybe even deliberately inaccessible (which can be the case with some films that critics gush over – partly I think it makes them appear smart). Also, lest we forget, it is also in French and runs to almost two and a half hours long. However I decided it had been on my queue for far too long as it was and recently I sat to watch it.

What I found was not an art film, not a pretentious film, not a "foreign" film but rather just a really well told story of a young man falling into a life of crime but then climbing and scheming his way up it. The rather breathless manner in which the film has been discussed doesn't do it any favours because, if you ignore all the words, the film is just this and it does it very well indeed. The Malik at the start of the film is very different from the Malik in the later stages, even though only a few years have passed. The difference is very well handled and we see him grow in his abilities, his confidence and also his ruthlessness. All of this occurs in a consistent flow of narrative that begins with him being forced into a violent act (one that stays with him) but then making himself useful and starting his own things on the side. In terms of narrative events it is very well structured and easy to follow, but it is the emotional journey that adds layers to it.

I read one critic compare the journey from (comparative) innocence to that taken by Michael Corleone in The Godfather and, while the details are more low-key and grubby, it is a fair comparison. Malik is fascinating as he stresses himself sick over his first kill, but just as fascinating when playing the odds with the various factions he straddles with influence. He is never free of beatings or risk, but he engages in the way he deals with it all with confidence and a growing willingness to do what is required. Director Audiard delivers it all with a range of styles – most of which work. At times it feels very seedy and grey in colour, particularly at the start and the camera sits in corners and watches from afar; this then contrasts with other scenes where it owes a debt to Scorsese in the use of music and montages (Malik being put in role of porter to the sound of Nas being a sudden but effective change in style). I wasn't really feeling the use of words on the screen – it didn't seem to add much and it did feel a bit too derivative, but other than this I had no complaints.

The performances are mostly very strong. The standout is of course Rahim in the lead role; he convinces in his journey and he pitches his development just right across the film – never going too far from who he is, not becoming a different person, but just showing growth and change in small but important ways. Arestrup is nearly as good as the cruel but fading lord of the prison while Bencherif, Yacoubi and many others make convincing supports. The world of the prison also feels very real and very threatening and even the extras add to the feeling of the place.

A Prophet is a great film: a crime story with strong characters, well developed plot and a constant feel of risk and threat without being over the top or losing touch with the gritty real feel of the prison world. Directed with style (but not too much style) the film uses the cast well and produces a roundly engaging and satisfying story. Perhaps a bit too over-hyped and made out to be way more than it is, it is still very much seeing and deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as Goodfellas and other such crime stories.

A fascinating look into the French prison system.

A terrific young actor named Tahar Mahim plays Malik, an Arab teenager sentenced to six years in prison. He's drafted by a Corsican gang that practically runs the prison to kill a fellow Muslim inmate who plans to act as a witness as part of a plea bargain. Once he does that he earns protection from the Corsicans, even though they continue to treat him like a servant because he's Arab, but because of their protection he's able to use his wiles to rise through the criminal ranks and emerge from the prison a major crime boss.

"Un Prophete" uses the prison setting to serve as a microcosm of French culture and current racial conflicts between the French and Arab immigrants. Mahim isn't educated, but he's smart, and he knows that to declare allegiance to either side is to limit his ultimate potential. Mahim gives an amazing, unshowy performance; it's largely because of him that the scene in which he carries out the hit is such a nail biter.

One brief scene late in the film suggests that there might be a literal meaning to the film's title, but overall the meaning is thematic -- Malik becomes a prophet to his people, but his story illustrates that not all messages carried to us from prophets are necessarily positive ones.

Grade: A

This was one of the first French film I have ever watched. I decided to give it a go.

Initially I wasn't holding out much hope when I placed the DVD into my drive, I was wrong.

The film is a hard hitting which keeps you gripped and awaiting the clever plot, it doesn't not disappoint and the way in which the plot unfolds is clever as well as realistic. The actors do a very good job and the main actor is especially good, the white mob boss is also a superb actor.

The film is about an Arab who enters jail after a life of trouble. He soon becomes gripped into the underworld of gang violence, he then joins a white gang whilst carrying out jobs for them. Whilst he cleverly starts to build his own empire.

Go watch this film now, sometimes I don't watch films if I have not seen reviews or thousands of votes here on IMD. Trust me on this film, one of the best films I have seen in a long time and I am sure you will not be disappointed.