After a chaotic night of rioting in a marginal suburb of Paris, three young friends, Vinz, Hubert and Saïd, wander around unoccupied waiting for news about the state of health of a mutual friend who has been seriously injured when confronting the police.

Credits: TheMovieDb.

Film Cast:

• Vinz: Vincent Cassel
• Hubert: Hubert Koundé
• Saïd: Saïd Taghmaoui
• Abdel: Abdel Ahmed Ghili
• Santo: Souleymane Dicko
• Ordinary Man: Joseph Momo
• Sarah: Héloïse Rauth
• Vinz’s Grandmother: Rywka Wajsbrot
• Vinz’s Aunt: Olga Abrego
• Cook: Laurent Labasse
• Saïd’s Brother: Choukri Gabteni
• Joking Boy: Nabil Ben Mhamed
• Benoît: Benoît Magimel
• Médard: Médard Niang
• Arash: Arash Mansour
• Young Businessman: Abdel-Moulah Boujdouni
• Journalist: Mathilde Vitry
• CRS TV Journalist: Christian Moro
• Darty: Edouard Montoute
• Roundabout Man: JiBi
• Hubert’s Mother: Félicité Wouassi
• Hubert’s Sister: Fatou Thioune
• Grocer: Thang-Long
• DJ: Cut Killer
• Saïd’s Sister: Sabrina Houicha
• Vinz’s Double: Sandor Weltmann
• ‘Astérix’: François Levantal
• Art Gallery Girl #1: Julie Mauduech
• Art Gallery Girl #2: Karin Viard
• Art Gallery Owner: Peter Kassovitz
• Taxi Driver: Christophe Rossignon
• Really Drunk Man: Vincent Lindon
• Young Skin: Mathieu Kassovitz
• Skin #1: Anthony Souter
• Skin #2: Florent Lavandeira
• Skin #3: Teddy Marques
• Skin #4: Samir Khelif
• Toilette Man: Tadek Lokcinski
• Subway Homeless: Virginie Montel
• Concierge: Andrée Damant
• Club Bouncer: Marcel Marondo
• Samir: Karim Belkhadra
• Inspector ‘Notre-Dame’: Marc Duret
• Assistant Police Officer: Eric Pujol
• Roof Police Chief: Philippe Nahon
• Hospital Young Police Officer: Sébastien Tavel
• Hospital Police Chief: François Toumarkine
• Hospital Police Officer #1: José Dalmat
• Paris Plainclothes Police Officer #1: Zinedine Soualem
• Paris Plainclothes Police Officer #2: Bernie Bonvoisin
• Paris Plainclothes Police Officer #3: Cyril Ancelin
• Cave CRS Officer: Patrick Médioni
• Santo: Solo

Film Crew:

• Editor: Mathieu Kassovitz
• Producer: Christophe Rossignon
• Production Director: Gilles Sacuto
• Associate Producer: Alain Rocca
• Associate Producer: Adeline Lecallier
• Music: Assassin
• Director of Photography: Pierre Aïm
• Editor: Scott Stevenson
• Art Direction: Giuseppe Ponturo
• Costume Design: Virginie Montel
• Stunts: Gilles Conseil
• Sound Designer: Vincent Tulli
• Sound: Dominique Dalmasso
• Foley Artist: Nicolas Becker
• Color Grading: Dominique Colin
• Steadicam Operator: Jacques Monge
• Stunt Coordinator: Philippe Guégan
• First Assistant Director: Eric Pujol
• Assistant Editor: Stratos Gabrielidis
• Assistant Camera: Marie Spencer
• Assistant Camera: Axel Cosnefroy
• Casting: Jean-Claude Barny
• Camera Operator: Georges Diane
• Still Photographer: Guy Ferrandis
• Visual Effects Producer: Antoine Simkine
• Gaffer: Mikaël Monod
• Assistant Art Director: Richard Guille
• Post Production Supervisor: Sylvie Randonneix
• Still Photographer: Jean-Claude Lother
• Stunts: Patrick Médioni
• Second Assistant Director: Ludovic Bernard
• Makeup Designer: Sophie Benaiche
• Script Supervisor: Nathalie Vierny
• Sound Mixer: Dominique Vieillard
• Stunts: Pascal Guégan
• Stunts: Christian Hening
• Key Grip: Vincent Blasco
• Key Grip: Alexander Bugel
• Boom Operator: Emmanuel Ughetto
• Stunts: Abdel Halim
• Property Master: Jean-Louis Laher
• Administration: Thierry Artur
• Assistant Camera: Hervé Lodé
• Property Master: Abdelnabi Krouchi
• Casting Assistant: Arash Mansour
• General Manager: Sophie Quiedeville
• Production Secretary: Laure Darie
• Archival Footage Research: Armelle Bayle
• Costumer: Nathalie Chemouny
• Special Effects: Pierre Foury
• Stunts: Bernard Chevreuil
• Stunts: Mohamed Enahal

Movie Reviews:

• CRCulver: Matthieu Kassowitz’s La Haine (Hate) is a portrait of youth disenfranchisement and the ensuing rage set in the public housing projects outside Paris. Before this film was released, many foreign viewers knew only the well-dressed, white, reserved and educated France depicted in e.g. films of the 1960s New Wave. Even many French people were unaware of the darker undercurrents of their own society, as no film had dared to handle this subject matter before. La Haine was a bombshell. While shot in 1995, it remains entirely topical today, as riots have continued to make the news in recent years.

  La Haine follows one day in the lives of three young men of different ethnic backgrounds all born and raised in one particular housing project: the aggressive Jew Vinz (Vincent Cassell), the insecure, clownish Arab Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) and the more level-headed, pensive sub-Saharan African Hubert (Hubert Koundé). The film opens on a spring morning, in the aftermath of a riot which has rocked these youths’ housing project. Some cars and buildings are destroyed, and the news reports that a police officer has lost his gun in the chaos of the night before. During the 24-hour period before the film’s shocking ending, this trio tours the bittersweet environment of their housing project (violence and poverty on one hand, loving families on the other) and, in an effort to pick up money owed to them, they navigate the alien environment (rich, educated, white) of downtown Paris.

  This is not only a revelatory film in showing viewers a side of France they had never seen before, but it is also extremely entertaining. The performances by these relatively unexperienced actors are totally convincing, Vincent Cassell in particular. Kassowitz shuns his country’s own film tradition and instead sculpts the action under inspiration from the USA. However, the “urban”, “hip-hop” aesthetic he employs does not lower the film to the more vacuous Hollywood productions but instead is at the level of Spike Lee and Scorsese. The director’s decision to print the film in black and white has imbued it with a gravitas that makes it timeless. That said, in spite of the fine acting and ethnographic detail, the plot itself is rather mundane, which holds me back from giving this too high a rating.