HATE Movie Review

La Haine
Hatred

Matthieu Kassovitz (Café au Lait) snared the Best Director prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival for his grim, bleak portrait of disaffected, gun-toting Parisian youth. You can't deny his talent, but you can remain unaffected by it. Hate (La Haine) caused a sensation in France, where the urgency of the film's message was not lost on the audience; the problems of teenage crime there are an epidemic that isn't always discussed in polite company, and Kassovitz's film simply kicked the door in. Hate, while an obviously accomplished piece of filmmaking, has a journalistic relevance that doesn't travel well. There's no way for this film to be seen here in the same, revelatory way it was at home; consequently, it feels busy but routine—like a pumped-up, obscenity-laden, skillfully photographed Dead End, complete with its own Huntz Hall (Vincent Cassel as Vinz). With Hubert Kounde and Saïd Taghmaoui.

NEXT STOP … Zero for Conduct, A Clockwork Orange, Kids

1995 95m/B FR Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui, Francois Levantal; D:Mathieu Kassovitz; W:Mathieu Kassovitz; C:Pierre Aim, Georges Diane. Cannes Film Festival ‘95: Best Director (Kassovitz); Cesar Awards ‘96: Best Film, Best Film Editing; Nominations: Cesar Awards ‘96: Best Actor (Cassel), Best Cinematography, Best Director (Kassovitz), Best Sound, Best Writing. VHS PGV