Malik (Tahar Rahim) is a nineteen-year-old Arab boy, thrown into a French prison to serve a six-year sentence. He is alone without any friends, contacts or relatives. Inside the prison is an ongoing feud between the Corsican and the Arab prisoners. Malik cannot read or write but he is able to speak Arabic, making him an asset to César Luciani (Niels Arestrup), a criminal who has the guards in his pocket and seemingly unlimited power in the prison. César wants to use Malik to infiltrate the Arab cellblock and kill someone. He offers him protection but also brutally threatens to kill him if he refuses or does not comply. Malik's attempts to escape his first assignment are futile because of the power the Corsican gangsters hold and ultimately his murder of the inmate becomes just one chapter in a lengthy career of organised crime.
Last year director Jacques Audiard was awarded the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for A Prophet and his film was also nominated for the Golden Palm as well. More recently, the film was named Best Foreign Film at the BAFTA Awards, certifying its contentions for Oscar glory too. There are enormous expectations when a film is surrounded by these sorts of accolades, which makes it disappointing to say that this is film that one would like to love, rather than having complete admiration for everything that it does. Regardless, Audiard's film is still inspired by a number of qualities that immerse one into the callousness of gangsters and prison life. The film has been photographed for maximum authenticity and realism, with the muted colours a reflection of the raw grittiness of the prison but also the isolation of Malik himself too. The attention to detail in each of the scenes, from the containment of the tiny cells, the graphic violence or even the way the guards thoroughly strip-search prisoners, represents gritty film-making at its most uncompromising.
The films narrative commences in the most fascinating way, demonstrating the unflinching power of the mob, even in confinement. The tension that is developed from Malik's preparation of his first task is quite extraordinary. The vision of him holding a razor blade in his mouth and then spitting blood in a sink is filmed with such clarity and dread that it becomes mesmerising in its brutality. What climaxes at the end of this task is as suspenseful as it is disturbing. It is odd then that the rest of the film is muddy and fails to reach the heights of intensity of this previous scene. While there are some satisfying moments showing Malik growing in his stature, the film becomes increasingly bogged down and confusing in its details about deals and double-crosses and the business aspects of drug running. It is with this convoluted narrative, a contrast to the early parts of the film, that a lot of the power of A Prophet is diminished, making it harder to care about what is going on.
Aside from the confusing storytelling, one of the most consistent aspects of the film is the very strong performance by Tahar Rahim as Malik. The decision to use a lesser known actor is a smart one because Rahim is able to build a completely assured reality about this character. His appearance convinces as much as his emotions. He has scars all over his back but one can also envision the internal trauma he suffers, given the blood on his hands. He grieves prior to his assignment and then afterwards he is regularly plagued by the ghost of the man he murdered. He gradually grows in confidence over the years, becoming a more efficient criminal, but he is also frustrated by his feebleness at the hands of César. It is quite an accomplished performance for a relatively young actor. César is a thoroughly interesting character as well, because while he is selfish, brutal and intolerable to Malik, there is also one part in the film where he shows a hint of vulnerability as he sits alone in his cell, following the transfer of a number of his men. This is again another really strong performance by an actor who is not particularly recognisable, allowing for a complete sense of immersion into the performance.
A Prophet could be a film that improves on multiple viewings if one is able to obtain a greater understanding of the plot and the interplay between the gangs. On initial viewing some will feel they are completely out of the loop and others might be deterred by the infrequent but highly graphic violence and difficult subject matter. These issues aside though, Audiard's film still possesses a gritty, authentic visual style along with a complex and layered performance by Rahim, who will in time become a powerful contributor to foreign cinema.
Last year director Jacques Audiard was awarded the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival for A Prophet and his film was also nominated for the Golden Palm as well. More recently, the film was named Best Foreign Film at the BAFTA Awards, certifying its contentions for Oscar glory too. There are enormous expectations when a film is surrounded by these sorts of accolades, which makes it disappointing to say that this is film that one would like to love, rather than having complete admiration for everything that it does. Regardless, Audiard's film is still inspired by a number of qualities that immerse one into the callousness of gangsters and prison life. The film has been photographed for maximum authenticity and realism, with the muted colours a reflection of the raw grittiness of the prison but also the isolation of Malik himself too. The attention to detail in each of the scenes, from the containment of the tiny cells, the graphic violence or even the way the guards thoroughly strip-search prisoners, represents gritty film-making at its most uncompromising.
The films narrative commences in the most fascinating way, demonstrating the unflinching power of the mob, even in confinement. The tension that is developed from Malik's preparation of his first task is quite extraordinary. The vision of him holding a razor blade in his mouth and then spitting blood in a sink is filmed with such clarity and dread that it becomes mesmerising in its brutality. What climaxes at the end of this task is as suspenseful as it is disturbing. It is odd then that the rest of the film is muddy and fails to reach the heights of intensity of this previous scene. While there are some satisfying moments showing Malik growing in his stature, the film becomes increasingly bogged down and confusing in its details about deals and double-crosses and the business aspects of drug running. It is with this convoluted narrative, a contrast to the early parts of the film, that a lot of the power of A Prophet is diminished, making it harder to care about what is going on.
Aside from the confusing storytelling, one of the most consistent aspects of the film is the very strong performance by Tahar Rahim as Malik. The decision to use a lesser known actor is a smart one because Rahim is able to build a completely assured reality about this character. His appearance convinces as much as his emotions. He has scars all over his back but one can also envision the internal trauma he suffers, given the blood on his hands. He grieves prior to his assignment and then afterwards he is regularly plagued by the ghost of the man he murdered. He gradually grows in confidence over the years, becoming a more efficient criminal, but he is also frustrated by his feebleness at the hands of César. It is quite an accomplished performance for a relatively young actor. César is a thoroughly interesting character as well, because while he is selfish, brutal and intolerable to Malik, there is also one part in the film where he shows a hint of vulnerability as he sits alone in his cell, following the transfer of a number of his men. This is again another really strong performance by an actor who is not particularly recognisable, allowing for a complete sense of immersion into the performance.
A Prophet could be a film that improves on multiple viewings if one is able to obtain a greater understanding of the plot and the interplay between the gangs. On initial viewing some will feel they are completely out of the loop and others might be deterred by the infrequent but highly graphic violence and difficult subject matter. These issues aside though, Audiard's film still possesses a gritty, authentic visual style along with a complex and layered performance by Rahim, who will in time become a powerful contributor to foreign cinema.