Exam Question Response: La Haine

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques?

La Haine is a french film about riots that occurred during the 1990s in Paris, France and the surrounding areas. These riots were about the French banlieues, which are the living areas in Paris for immigrants and non-French people. This includes people of religion such as Jewish, Islamic and even Afro-French people, which are the religions of the three people who feature in the film. The film's main text is the after effects in these places in the 24 hours after the riots took place. This has a major impact on me because this instantly makes the film a true story because as I know from my own knowledge, these riots did happen around 1995. I think La Haine depends on distinctive film techniques during the film to make it so believable and to make people realise that these events did occur almost 20 years ago.

I think that the main sequence that shows this is the sequence after the montage at the very beginning of the film. The non-diegetic music fades out and this music is not typical French music, as it is Reggae, which is typically associated with Jamaican people. The fade in music shows that, just like any other, this riot faded out and people stopped destroying stuff and fighting. A news report then starts and a French woman begins talking. We continue to see the montage as almost a POV shot as it shows the riots how you would typically see them if you were watching them on the news. The media is also a big influence in this film, and also influences a certain character in this film too. The news report states that a young person named "Abdul Ichaha is in a critical condition in hospital" after being beaten by a police officer during the riots.

This has an effect on me because I think that is disgusting behaviour, and that would never happen here in England. The media seems to influence these young men too, as they are making a 'typical American gangster pose' that would probably be seen in a modern gangster film. Halfway through this news report there is a transition that looks like a television being turned off, which gives the impression that people living in Paris would do this because they don't really care about things like riots going on in the banlieues. Then a clock stating the time 10:38 appears on the screen and this is accompanied by a ticking clock sound. This makes it clear to me that the film is about time and shows that, especially in this situation, time is very limited. There is then a straight cut to see Saïd, an Arab who lives in the French banlieues because he is an immigrant. There is a shot noise which sounds like a gun being fired as it cuts to see Saïd. This makes me realise that something is about to happen and I start to get apprehensive about what this may be. There is a slow close up on to Saïd's face, and he has his eyes closed, with no diegetic sound around him. Then once he opens his eyes the diegetic sound resumes and this represents Saïd coming back to reality and opening his eyes to what has really happened during the riots.

There is then a straight cut to see the back of Saïd and this represents that the film will be from Saïd's point of view. You can hear a helicopter overhead and this is a constant reminder that the people that live in the banlieues are always being watched and can't escape. The camera goes over Saïd's head and we see a line of police officers. This clearly shows the conflict between the authorities and the people living in the banlieues. The camera then cuts to pan across the line of officers in a wide shot. With their stances, you can see that the police have power over people. Before the pan, there are two young people who walk across the shot and they seem intimidated by the row of authorities.  You can also see there is poverty around the banlieues as there is graffiti on the wall behind Saïd's close up in a previous shot. The same reggae music from the montage becomes diegetic sound in this sequence as it is being played in the background. The point of poverty and conflict becomes even more clear as the camera continues to pan around to the back of a police van, where Saïd is vandalising it. You can see conflict from this because he writes 'Fuck The Police' along with his name.

This shows a sense of identity, which is needed in the banlieues and is a common theme amongst the characters in this film.

I think that the film techniques used make me, as a viewer, feel different ways such as tense because of the sound effects and camera shots used.