Ein Prophet (2009)
50KEin Prophet: Directed by Jacques Audiard. With Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb. A young Algerian man is sent to a French prison.
“One of the biggest surprises of 2009, Jacques Audiardu0026#39;s u0026#39;Un Prophèteu0026#39; is the best French film in a decade, garnering strong critical and word-of-mouth support and winning the Grand Prix in Cannes (which for years now means that itu0026#39;s the actual festival winner). The surprise is that the story is far from being original: a young Arab sentenced to (adult) prison for the first time is forced by a Corsican mafia boss running the strings there to do his bidding. By and by, he manages to use his underling position to his own advantage. So itu0026#39;s a typical hard-boiled underdog story – what makes it so great then? u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eu0026#39;Un Prophèteu0026#39; doesnu0026#39;t differ much in style from the French films of late, which were often so hell-bent on displaying life as a gritty and boring affair, and resorted to radical violence to underscore this point, that spectators were almost forced to feel disgusted, which was then claimed to be a denominator of the filmu0026#39;s artistic success. This phenomenon has been called u0026#39;New French Extremityu0026#39;. What Jacques Audiard has done is to combine the aesthetics of this trend with the traditions which once made the French film industry the most power- and meaningful in Europe, namely to focus on the relationship of the leading actors. The result is a film that is totally engaging from the first minute, because it entrusts the actors with the task of transforming the script into something of their own making.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAnd boy oh boy, Tahar Rahim does that job. A newcomer with a little bit of TV experience, his performance carries u0026#39;Un Prophèteu0026#39; with amazing vigor. Itu0026#39;s a big chance, and he takes it. Would this be an English-language film, heu0026#39;d be a surefire contender for the awards. His nemesis is portrayed by Niels Arestrup in an equally flawless, yet much more routinized way, which juxtaposes the two characters perfectly. Add to this the sophisticated editing already present in Audiardu0026#39;s last film u0026#39;De battre mon coeur su0026#39;est arretéu0026#39; (2005), and you have the best European film of 2009, in spite of a story that you will most likely have seen dozens of times already.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIf you usually donu0026#39;t like European movies, or if you have only time to see one a year, watch this one – you wonu0026#39;t regret it.”
