Watching “La Haine” practically 30 years in the past, there was a way of one thing inexorable about violence within the French suburbs.
French director Mathieu Kassovitz’s critically acclaimed black-and-white movie opens with video photos of news footage of city riots. The movie then follows three mates — Hubert, Vinz and Saïd — over the course of 24 hours in a world of police brutality. It ends with the killing of one of many younger males by a police officer.
A confrontation ensues, adopted by a voice-over: ‘‘It’s a couple of society in free fall.” A gunshot is heard, leaving little doubt as to the dramatic end result, with extra blood spilled.
The movie served as a revelation concerning the grim actuality of life in what the French name the “banlieue” — the disadvantaged suburbs with housing initiatives — and took the 1995 Cannes Film Festival by storm. Kassovitz gained one of the best director award, and “La Haine” achieved cult standing in France and around the globe.
Nearly three many years later, it’s nonetheless hailed because the reference movie on housing initiatives in disaster. Kassovitz and theater director Serge Denoncourt are giving it new life, turning it right into a stage musical that opens in October.
The title stays the identical — “La Haine,” which interprets as “hate,” however provides a subtitle: “So far, nothing has changed.”
“Two days after we announced the show (last year), we were very hyped,” Kassovitz mentioned. ”We had been very glad to say: ’OK, we’re going to formally announce it and it’s going to be a gorgeous present and it’s going to be a gorgeous social gathering and every part. Two days later, we noticed the video of Nahel, you already know, the child who bought shot by policemen.”
Kassovitz was referring to Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old supply driver who was fatally shot by a police officer in June 2023, sparking riots throughout the nation and unleashing anger over police violence, poverty and discrimination towards folks with immigrant backgrounds. Merzouk was of North African origin.
“Yes, we know why we are doing this,” Kassovitz mentioned. “It’s for him. It’s for all the victims that suffered that kind of violence after so many years.”
Despite capturing “La Haine” in black and white, Kassovitz tries to keep away from overly simplistic conclusions concerning the roots of violence.
“We are trying to solve the questions that the movie raised,” he mentioned. “We can’t level fingers on a regular basis. Maybe now it’s time to have options. And we predict that the answer is love. So, that’s what the present is. It’s methods to cease hating and begin loving.”
To discover the trio of actors who would carry this message of affection by means of the musical, Kassovitz and his group traveled throughout France for months. The director believes that Aliyou Diop, Samy Belkessa and Alexander Ferrario are the appropriate selections to recreate the chemistry from the movie.
For all its darkness, the film already had a dose of excellent feeling. It’s stuffed with dozens of humorous punch traces and jokes that solely reinforce the bond and love between the three most important protagonists as they enterprise into the center of Paris.
“There’s a lot of love in the hood, too” mentioned Diop, who comes from a working-class neighborhood within the port metropolis of Le Havre. “Otherwise we’d all be shooting at each other. In the movie you see three buddies living in a complicated context, and you forget the context as you watch the film. They manage to make us forget that. That’s why I like them so much. They laugh, they laugh in their misery.”
When Kassovitz made his movie, French suburban tradition was nonetheless largely underground. The native rap music scene had already emerged, however the native mainstream media tended to painting the youth from the housing initiatives in an unflattering and largely fear-based mild.
Kassovitz mentioned that he is happy that a few of the stereotypes have been damaged and that suburban youth are actually getting an opportunity to make their approach to the highest of the charts, like French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, who sang on the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
For Kassovitz, the distinction between the movie and the present is that there isn’t a have to warn folks that that is about youngsters from the initiatives. “Thirty years in the past no one knew them, so we needed to make a film to introduce them to the French tradition,” he mentioned.
Diop, who performs Hubert within the musical and can be a rap artist, impressed the casting group together with his stage presence. An important asset in a musical present that mixes dance, cinema, rap, theater and stay efficiency, which Denoncourt hopes might be groundbreaking.
“We’re trying to put things together in an artistic way, but not too, too cute. We like the raw material that we have with the breakdancing, with the rap,” he mentioned. “The present is fairly uncooked.”
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