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Un prophète (2009)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
26 August 2009 (Belgium)
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Plot:
A young Arab man is sent to a French prison where he becomes a mafia kingpin. | full synopsis
Awards:
2 wins
&
7 nominations
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NewsDesk:
(46 articles)
Un Prophète leads European film awards nominations
(From The Guardian - Film News. 9 November 2009, 3:24 AM, PST)
'Slumdog Millionaire' Grabs Five Nods at 2009 European Film Awards
(From Aceshowbiz. 9 November 2009, 12:27 AM, PST)
(From The Guardian - Film News. 9 November 2009, 3:24 AM, PST)
'Slumdog Millionaire' Grabs Five Nods at 2009 European Film Awards
(From Aceshowbiz. 9 November 2009, 12:27 AM, PST)
User Comments:
A critic's hype
more (11 total)
Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Tahar Rahim | ... | Malik El Djebena | |
| Niels Arestrup | ... | César Luciani | |
| Adel Bencherif | ... | Ryad | |
| Hichem Yacoubi | ... | Reyeb | |
| Reda Kateb | ... | Jordi | |
| Jean-Philippe Ricci | ... | Vettori | |
| Gilles Cohen | ... | Prof | |
| Antoine Basler | ... | Pilicci | |
| Leïla Bekhti | ... | Djamila | |
| Pierre Leccia | ... | Sampierro | |
| Foued Nassah | ... | Antaro | |
| Jean-Emmanuel Pagni | ... | Santi | |
| Frédéric Graziani | ... | Chef de détention | |
| Slimane Dazi | ... | Lattrache | |
| Rabah Loucif | ... | L'avocat de Malik |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
MPAA:
Rated R for strong violence, sexual content, nudity, language and drug material.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
155 min | France:150 min
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Certification:
USA:R (certificate #45559) |
Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) |
Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) |
Ireland:16 |
UK:18 |
Argentina:16
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
France's official submission to 82nd Academy Award's Foreign Language in 2010.
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This film has been massively over-rated. Of course it has good performances, and mis-en-scene - it should do with the talent on hand. But at the end of the day this a nasty film about very nasty people which plays on every prison movie cliché. Disguising its true rationale - revenge, violence and the criminal world are sure fire recipes for commercial success - it is misogynist, homophobic, and yes, yes, yes, sympathetic to racism and the branding of political and religious stereotypes. We are invited to sympathise with a man who murders within minutes of his appearance. We are invited to enjoy his antagonist's subtle brutality (the end sequence is used to justify this by inviting sympathy for him too in his fresh isolation at the expense of some very unpleasant fundamentalist Muslims), and we are asked to enjoy the interplay of Roman Catholic pseudo religiosity, and Islam in equal measures. The film is offencive to both religions and its duplicitous political prejudices re-enforce the reasons to severely mistrust its manipulative dramatic tensions. The up market critics have as usual behaved like sheep and praised this film out of all proportion - sadly few of them have taken the trouble to really think about it. To complement its status at Cannes in 2009,the BFI/London Film festival jury have been conned by the pre, during and post Cannes hype by giving it a Best Film Award (in the same year as The White Ribbon, Precious and a host of other great movies shown at the LFF) - embarrassing and typical of the British film hierarchy: they have succumbed to its technical wizardry and its visceral impact. The same attitudes which have given The Bourne movies their dubious critical status. The film has some great performances but like all great propaganda, and films with dubious messages, they are serving the premise and have been used cleverly to re-enforce it. I felt dirty and disgusted with myself after seeing this horrible film. My guess is that director will scoff, the critics huff and puff, and those who like violent criminals to be the vehicle for their weak philosophising will dismiss my comments as 'agenda led' or 'misguided' or 'blind' to the films qualities. I would refer them to far greater examples of the genre (criminals and prisons) which deal with human issues with honesty and with a highly thought through political and sociological perspective (and I use only a few of the more recent examples - I leave alone the great prison movies, and movies which deal with incarcerated criminals which came from the 1930's and 1940's. This is a list in no order: The Shawshank Redemption; The Birdman of Alcatraz; Brubaker; Scum; Scrubbers; L'Argent; Daybreak (a recent Iranian film); Hunger; Dead Man Walking; and then almost all of Melville's films; Papillon; Cool Hand Luke.... Un Prophete is a dishonest film which is disguised as such because it is so obviously well made. That puts it into the category of surely one of the worst (and equally dishonest) prison movies of all time - Midnight Express and that had similar critical praise and attention.