In association with

La Haine (Special Edition) [1995]
from Optimum Home Entertainment
starring Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, Said Taghmaoui
directed by Mathieu Kassovitz

Features:

• Black & White
• PAL
• Special Edition

Editorial Review:

La Haine is an angry, anti-authoritarian French film that concerns three young guys (a Jew, an Arab, a black) who decide to take on the police after a friend is brutally beaten. There isn't much going on in this black and white drama beyond its violence (which can be pretty hard to watch, such as an interrogation scene that incorporates torture) and gritty observations of wayward youths hanging out on the fringes of Paris. Certainly, there isn't much in the way of insight, and director Mathieu Kassovitz seems to have absorbed more of the excesses of America's independent film scene, especially Spike Lee at his most indulgent, than its blessings. But if it's edge and rawness you want, this has it--with subtitles. --Tom Keogh

Digitally Remastered
New Subtitles
Audio Commentary from Director Mathieu Kassovitz
Original colour versions of selected scenes
Behind the Scenes Footage
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
Special 10th Anniversary Edition

Shot in black and white cinema verite style, this film follows a day in the life of three aimless, violence-prone, ethnically-diverse young men who hail from the same decaying housing project in Paris. Vinz, who is Jewish, is the angriest and the least intelligent of the three. North African Said is calmer, but is the most despairing about his future. Hubert is Black, and the most mature, channeling his rage through boxing. Although the trio seethes with fury over the arrest and senseless beating of an Arab friend, each manages to keep the other in check. But that changes after Vinz finds a loaded gun--and the trio becomes entangled with the police, and later a group of skinheads. Mathieu Kassovitz won the Best Director prize for LA HAINE at the Cannes Film Festival.

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

• Don't buy or rent this film.....
  Its rubbish. I persevered with up to half way, but could not take any more. Nothing happened and you simply do not care about the cliche characters. Do yourself a big favour and give this total bore a miss.

• Materpiece
  i came across this movie through hip hop circles as the soundtrack and the movie iteself features some excellent music and dj's. I dont understand a word of french and watched this a couple of times in order the really get the most out of it. Its a typical view of inner city life as viewed from the point of three friends. and essentially could be translocated to most inner cities, however the french language being as beautiful sounding as it is really adds to this film. The interactions and exploits of the... more info

• Emperor's Clothes
  I thought this film was incredibly over rated - there was no structure to it and the main characters were stereotyped to the point where it almost became predictable. There is a trend now that if you have filmed something poor then it will be released as b/w to give it an 'arty' look. Like the Blair Witch Project, this is another film where people like to say they enjoyed it to be thought of as intellectual. Really though it is quite dull

• stunning cinematography......
  .....i saw this film when it first came out on VHS as my flatmate was studying french at the time and he brought it home one day. All of the above reviews highlighting the social commentary aspect of the film ring true, however the most striking thing about it is the breathtaking cinematography. I do not really know an awful lot about this field but some of the camera-work is baffling, there is a shot of a dj at his decks at the window in a block of flats, the camera comes from over his shoulder out of the... more info

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