The story of La Haine is not so clear from the outset. What is this film about, who are these people, what are the rules of their world and why? These are questions that I was asking myself for the first half hour of the film and then I realised that the film is not going to blatantly give me the answers as I'd expect. Instead it's going to slowly unravel them, intriguing me every so often and making me feel smart when I work something out. And that's exactly what happened. I found the story and plot to be fairly original in the sense that we haven't seen this type of story telling before this film. The shape of the dialogue could have been inspired by the likes of Tarantino but it stands on its own. Although the film can deal with brutal themes at times it is very comedic. There are little references to other films as well allowing the viewer to feel clever when they recognize them. The only issue with the story is that it is obviously a story for a specific audience. Not much context around the world of the characters is given making it difficult for westerners to feel sympathy for what the characters are going through because they simply don't understand the gravity of the situation.
Technically, the film works okay. I understand the decision to make this film black and white but I don't think it needs it. It's not a subtle reference to the world of the film so it just feels like one of those wanky artistic decisions. Additionally, some of the shots could have been very beautiful but they simply weren't as they looked cheap. Perhaps the film makers were a little to ambitious and acting outside of what they could actually accomplish neatly. For the most part though the film looks and sounds like a documentary but this really works with the films gritty context.
Acting: Exceptional.
Overall, a nice independent film with an original concept of narrative structure and story telling techniques.
Technically, the film works okay. I understand the decision to make this film black and white but I don't think it needs it. It's not a subtle reference to the world of the film so it just feels like one of those wanky artistic decisions. Additionally, some of the shots could have been very beautiful but they simply weren't as they looked cheap. Perhaps the film makers were a little to ambitious and acting outside of what they could actually accomplish neatly. For the most part though the film looks and sounds like a documentary but this really works with the films gritty context.
Acting: Exceptional.
Overall, a nice independent film with an original concept of narrative structure and story telling techniques.