La Haine (1995) La haine (original title)

Director:

Mathieu Kassovitz

Writer:

Mathieu Kassovitz (written by)

Release Date:

23 February 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

So far, so good

Plot:

After local youth Abdel is beaten unconscious by police, a riot ensues on his estate during which a policeman loses his gun. The gun is found by Vinz who threatens he will kill a cop if Abdel dies.

Plot Keywords:

Riot | Gun | Hospital | Youth | Ghetto

Awards:

8 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Vincent Cassel	...	Vinz
Hubert Koundé	...	Hubert
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Saïd
Abdel Ahmed Ghili	...	Abdel
Solo	...	Santo
Joseph Momo	...	Ordinary Guy
Héloïse Rauth	...	Sarah
Rywka Wajsbrot	...	Vinz's Grandmother
Olga Abrego	...	Vinz's Aunt
Laurent Labasse	...	Cook
Choukri Gabteni	...	Saïd's Brother
Nabil Ben Mhamed	...	Boy Blague
Benoît Magimel	...	Benoît
Medard Niang	...	Médard (as Médard Niang)
Arash Mansour	...	Arash
Abdel-Moulah Boujdouni	...	Young Businessman
Mathilde Vitry	...	Journalist
Christian Moro	...	CRS TV Journalist
JiBi	...	Fat Youth
Edouard Montoute	...	Darty
Félicité Wouassi	...	Hubert's mother
Fatou Thioune	...	Hubert's Sister
Thang-Long	...	Grocer (as Thang Long)
Cut Killer	...	DJ
Sabrina Houicha	...	Saïd's Sister
Sandor Weitmann	...	Vinz Lookalike (as Sandor Weltmann)
François Levantal	...	Astérix
Julie Mauduech	...	Gallery Girl
Karin Viard	...	Gallerly Girl
Peter Kassovitz	...	Gallery Patron
Vincent Lindon	...	Really Drunk Man
Christophe Rossignon	...	Taxi Driver
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Young Skinhead
Anthony Souter	...	Skin
Florent Lavandeira	...	Skin
Teddy Marques	...	Skin
Samir Khelif	...	Skin
Tadek Lokcinski	...	Monsieur Toilettes
Virginia Montel	...	SDF Metro (as Virginie Montel)
Andrée Damant	...	Concierge
Marcel Marondo	...	Bouncer
Karim Belkhadra	...	Samir
Marc Duret	...	Inspector Notre Dame
Eric Pujol	...	Assistant Policeman
Philippe Nahon	...	Police Chief
Sébastien Tavel	...	Hospital police officer
François Toumarkine	...	Hospital police officer
Jose-Philippe Dalmat	...	Hospital Police Officer (as José-Philippe Dalmat)
Zinedine Soualem	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Bernie Bonvoisin	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Cyril Ancelin	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Patrick Médioni	...	CRS Cave

Directed by
Mathieu Kassovitz

Writing credits
Mathieu Kassovitz		(written by)

Produced by
Adeline Lecallier	....	associate producer
Alain Rocca	....	associate producer
Christophe Rossignon	....	producer
Gilles Sacuto	....	line producer

Original Music by
Assassin

Cinematography by
Pierre Aïm

Film Editing by
Mathieu Kassovitz
Scott Stevenson

Production Design by
Giuseppe Ponturo

Costume Design by
Virginie Montel

Makeup Department
Sophie Benaiche	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Sophie Quiédeville	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ludovic Bernard	....	second assistant director
Eric Pujol	....	first assistant director
François Pujol	....	third assistant director
Henri Pujol	....	assistant director

Art Department
Mélissa Ponturo	....	art department trainee

Sound Department
Nicolas Becker	....	foley artist
Dominique Dalmasso	....	sound
Fred Mays	....	post-synchronization
Laure Monrréal	....	sound trainee
Vincent Tulli	....	sound
Emmanuel Ughetto	....	boom operator

Visual Effects by
Rodolphe Chabrier	....	digital effects
Antoine Simkine	....	visual effects executive producer: Duboi
Rip Hampton O'Neil	....	director of reseach and development: DuboiColor (uncredited)

Stunts
Bernard Chevreul	....	stunts (as Bernard Chevreuil)
Gilles Conseil	....	stunts
Mohammed Enahal	....	stunts (as Mohamed Enahal)
Pascal Guégan	....	stunts
Philippe Guégan	....	stunt coordinator
Christian Hening	....	stunts
Patrick Médioni	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Vincent Blasco	....	key grip
Axel Cosnefroy	....	assistant camera
Georges Diane	....	camera operator
Guy Ferrandis	....	still photographer
Hervé Lode	....	second assistant camera
Jean-Claude Lother	....	still photographer
Jacques Monge	....	Steadicam operator
Mikael Monod	....	gaffer
Marie Spencer	....	first assistant camera

Editorial Department
Stratos Gabrielidis	....	first assistant editor

Other crew
Thierry Artur	....	production accountant
Laure Darie	....	production secretary
Guillaume Favreau	....	assistant manager
Jodie Foster	....	presenter
François Guerrar	....	press attache
Abdelnabi Krouchi	....	location manager
Dany Martin	....	press attache

Production Companies

• Canal+
• Cofinergie 6
• Egg Pictures
• Kasso Inc. Productions
• La Sept Cinéma
• Les Productions Lazennec
• Polygram Filmed Entertainment
• Studio Image

Distributors

• AmaFilms (1995) (Greece) (theatrical)
• Atalanta Filmes (1995) (Portugal) (theatrical)
• Concorde-Castle Rock/Turner (1995) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Golem Distribución (1996) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Gramercy Pictures (I) (1995) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• MKL Distribution (1995) (France) (theatrical)
• Mikado (1995) (Italy) (theatrical)
• StudioCanal (1995) (worldwide) (theatrical) (as Studio Canal+)
• Warner Bros. Finland (1995) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2008) (United Arab Emirates) (DVD) (Middle East)
• Look Filmes (Brazil) (VHS)
• Mondadori Video (1996) (Italy) (VHS)
• Telefilm Hellas (1996) (Greece) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Universal Pictures Finland Oy (2006) (Finland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1996) (Finland) (VHS)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1999) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

"La haine" - France (original title)
"Hate" - International (English title) (literal title)

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Germany:12 (bw) | Portugal:M/18 | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:Not Rated | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Norway:15 | Australia:MA | New Zealand:R16 | New Zealand:R18 | Argentina:16 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Italy:VM14 | France:U

Filming Locations:

Chanteloup-les-Vignes, Yvelines, France

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

At one point, Julie Mauduech says to Hubert Koundé, "We've met before, haven't we?" which might be a reference to Mathieu Kassovitz's first film, Café au lait (1993), in which they both starred.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The trip across Paris is strange : the three characters should arrive at the Saint-Lazare station(north-west of Paris), coming from ChanteloupLesVignes. Yet, when they arrive, they are in front of the Montparnasse station(south of Paris), on the Rennes street. Then, they go to Asterix place, on the boulevard Pierre Ier of Serbia, close to Iena Place (west of Paris), and when they try to catch the last train, this time they are at the Saint-Lazare station, the right one to go back. But then, when they are on the roof, they see the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero from the south-east, being probably close to Montparnasse station. Then, they come across a sculpture, L'Ecoute, in the Halles Garden(center of Paris), before going back. Hence, their trip goes : south, west, north-west, south and center of Paris.

Quotes:

Old Neighbor Lady:Stop ringing like that! Y'all think the world is yours?
Hubert:[turns away] This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real...

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Story of Film: An Odyssey: Episode #1.13" (2011)

Soundtrack:

The Beat Goes On

Hate Begets Hate

Reminiscent of Costas-Gavras' film Z with its rapid-fire dialogue and staccato rhythms, La Haine (Hate) directed by 28 year-old Mathieu Kassovitz, is a passionate look at racial tensions at a Paris housing project. Although drug dealing, urban decay, and police brutality have been shown in films before, rarely have they had the sense of vitality and urgency shown in La Haine.

Three friends from different ethnic backgrounds live in the Bluebell housing projects on the outskirts of Paris. This is not the Paris of travel brochures or films like Amelie, but a desolate urban landscape, harsh and grim with housing projects that look as if they could be in any big city in the world. Vinz (Vincent Cassel), is a working class Jew; Hubert (Hubert Kounde), the most intelligent and self-reflective of the three, is an African boxer; and Said (Said Taghmaoui), an Arab from North Africa is younger but just as embittered.

The film depicts their rage against the police whom they see as oppressors. Marginalized economically and politically, without jobs, parents who care, or hope for the future, the streets are their home and they are open targets for police who are shown as brutal and racist. In one startling scene, a veteran cop taunts and physically abuses Said and Hubert while training a rookie cop. The rookie can only look on and shake his head in disbelief.

Shot in black and white, La Haine shows a single day in the lives of the three friends. Following a major riot in which a local teenager, Abdel, is critically wounded by the police, Vinz, the most volatile of the group, vows that if Abdel dies he will kill a cop to get even. Hubert wants to restrain him, and Said doesn't seem to care either way, as long as he can get his money from a drug dealer named Snoopy. When Vinz finds a Smith & Wesson 44 lost by the police during the riots, the spiral of violence escalates and builds toward a memorable conclusion.

La Haine does not offer any solutions to social problems but clearly shows the anger and frustration of people who feel trapped by their circumstances. In its depiction of a society in free-fall, it also has immediacy. Three weeks after the film was released, riots broke out in the Brixton section of London, following the death of a young black man in police custody. Though it is a wake-up call for action on society's growing gap between rich and poor, La Haine makes a powerful statement that violence does not solve anything and that hate begets hate. Someone should pass the word to a few of the world leaders.