Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #37518 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-06-05
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Black & White, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: French
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 3
• Running time: 97 minutes

Special Features
3 Disc Set in steel tin, including: ’10 Years of La Haine’ New feature length documentary La Haine Original Soundtrack on CD Digitally Remastered feature Exclusive Audio Commentary from Mathieu Kassovitz Scenes in Colour Behind the Scenes footage The 2005 Paris Riots – a blog by Mathieu Kassovitz 'After the Riot' – An essay on La Haine by Keith Reader Trailers

Synopsis
Shot in black and white cinema verite style, this film follows a day in the life of three aimless, violence-prone, ethnically-diverse young men who hail from the same decaying housing project in Paris. Vinz, who is Jewish, is the angriest and the least intelligent of the three. North African Said is calmer, but is the most despairing about his future. Hubert is Black, and the most mature, channeling his rage through boxing. Although the trio seethes with fury over the arrest and senseless beating of an Arab friend, each manages to keep the other in check. But that changes after Vinz finds a loaded gun and the trio becomes entangled with the police, and later a group of skinheads. Mathieu Kassovitz won the Best Director prize for LA HAINE at the Cannes Film Festival.

Customer Reviews

Classic
The two reviewers below seem to have totally missed the point to this film. John Evans' asserion that it is "made for middle class lefties, by middle class lefties" is an affront to the themes of this film.The other reviewer says "It's a pitty you don't get it dubbed in english, specially if you don't speack french." This also misses the point-you wouldn't have the guttral impact of the dialogue in this film if it were dubbed. French is a very expressive language and the performers would look ridiculous if English was spewing out of their mouths.

La Haine (Hate) is about normal people who live in abnormal conditions, not necessarily the WORST poverty in the world but they are not getting their fair share. Like a lot of people. The housing estates outside Paris have been enflamed again recently and this kind of proves that this is an important, polemical film that has lost none of its resonance in the eleven years since its release.

As well as the powerful story you have stylish direction and a beautiful black and white presentation. This film will not appeal to people who can't read and watch pictures at the same time, or "idiots" as I call them. Just because a film is subtitled it doesn't mean you should deride it. Neither should it be shot down as a propoganda film for "middle class lefties"-it is a depiction of the events in on day of the lives of people you may not at first understand, but will eventually come to respect and feel empathy and sympathy for (if you have human emotions at least).

A triumph in European cinema.

"La Haine Attire La Haine"
Paris, 1995, and Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine is finally unleashed on a public, who are now starting to be aware of the problems in the suburbs. Many critics didn't know what to make of it, and others passed it off as pure violence against the police; no one was looking at Vinz, Hubert and Saïd - a small selection of youngsters living in the suburbs.

Vinz, of Jewish descendant, thinks he's the tough guy, impersonating Robert De Niro in his mirror, he thinks killing a cop will justify it all, after all his mate Abdel was shot by the cops in the estate during a riot. He thinks he can solve everything with violence.

Hubert, or Couin Hub, is a black African, he's a lot more thoughtful, and wants to get out of the area as soon as he can. He boxes in the gym, which he worked hard to pay for. He is really annoyed that his life is being ruined by others who are out to just torch things, not really in the name of political uproar.

Saïd is a guy who just wants to get on with what he wants to do, not be bothered by others and just mess around. He doesn't have any political agenda; he just enjoys going out with girls and getting drunk.

Here we see a typical day of their life, from sitting around the estate telling silly stories, being chased by the police and the rowing and arguments they have with themselves and others in the area and Paris itself.

This is worth a watch, the black and white is very watchable, and shows us their lives as reality rather than fantasy; Vincent Cassel is one of the best in my opinion, showing us why other directors have spotted his talent from this very movie. I also liked Hubert, he put a sober view on life and the way he doesn't subscribe to violence just for the sake of it is refreshing. I didn't like the police violence in the police station, but I see its purpose, though whatever bias it shows, it shows that sometimes these things do happen, and consequences should arise from it. It's believed that there were complaints from the police over it. I did like the old guy in the loo though, telling us about his friend - had a great moral to its story the boys totally missed.

This is quite an impressive DVD collection too, plenty of behind the scenes stuff, even in colour and commentary from Kassovitz himself. I am not bothered about the subtitles - as I speak fluent French being half French myself, but I did notice they were not as good on the VHS cassette I had for my Media Studies A Level. There's also a CD with the soundtrack, though strangely the other half is for Metisse, another film about urban problems and love. The quality of the transfer is good and the picture is good for the budget that was available, same can be said for the sound.

Worth buying, it's a real eye-opener.

Tough and rough but brilliant!!
This is a truly superb movie. No special effects or holliwood crap, this is pure and genuine movie making at his state of art level.

Acting performance are top level, Vincent Cassel deserves an oscar for that.

It's a picture of a moment, of a day, in the life of simple people struggling with a tough every day reality. Giving an idea of the hillness of the society they live in.

It's defently a CULT MOVIE, and a must have anyway, so it well worths a collector's edition. It's a pitty you don't get it dubbed in english, specially if you don't speack french.