La Haine

La Haine is about a lot of things. Racial segregation, cultural malaise, the frustrations of poverty and youth, to name but a few. But really, what it's mostly about is three guys hanging about the place, not really doing a lot.

There are many scenes meant to portray the relationship of the characters and those in their situation with various other elements of society, such as the police and higher culture, but most are intended to establish that these are kids doing what kids will so often do: kill time.

I have to confess I found this effort to portray profound boredom, well, kinda boring. There are large sections that seemed to add very little, and while there is an interesting undertone to the whole thing, they still could have been removed with little consequence other than clawing back precious minutes of my life I could have squandered elsewhere.

The undertone involves a gun and a self fulfilling prophecy. From the moment the weapon is brought forth we're aware of where the film must head, which makes the entire picture a rising tone towards the inevitable gunfire. It's subtly done with the presence of arms effecting every scene in a variety of ways.

Unfortunately even this interesting element wasn't enough to keep me involved. I'm disappointed in myself as there is much to be said for the film, as indeed it has a lot to say, and is perhaps the best handling of juvenile ennui I can think of, but I still found myself just waiting for it to end.

Maybe I felt it didn't explore it's points once made. Maybe I should have watched it years ago when my friend used to rave of it's quality and I would have been better placed to relate to it's tale of disquiet youth. Maybe I've cultivated a distaste for french cinema after being unwillingly subjected to a number of obtuse examples in the name of education. Maybe it was the language gap, I've never had a great relationship with subtitles as I deeply value the construction and rhythm of words spoken out loud for the sake of performance, a matter that merely knowing what has been said simply doesn't replicate.

Maybe it's all of the above, but whatever the reason, and despite a sense that it is objectively a good film, it failed to entertain and engage me. Or I failed to be entertained and become engaged with it. One of the two.