La Haine (1995)

With La Haine, 1995, director Mathieu Kassovitz made a masterpiece. This film is a masterclass in pacing, editing, cinematography and storytelling in general. Today I had the pleasure of seeing the 25th anniversary restoration and it was amazing, even being the sixth time I've seen this film it still holds up incredibly well and is unfortunately as relevant as it was upon release.

The film follows the day of three young friends living in the projects in Paris. This films real achievement shines in the way it tells its story and delivers its message, this is because the film has no plot. Instead it relies on the dynamics of characters and situations they find themselves in to make up most of the film, as well as this the use of time in this film adds further meaning to scenes as it feels as though there is a sense of urgency or time running out. This film also features beautiful black and white cinematography that adds to the themes of the film as well as giving it a more unique visual style and adding to the grittiness of the story. This film has a very steady pace which is even more impressive due to the fact that the film is quite clearly split into two parts, the projects and Paris city.

This film obviously has a clear political message but the best part about it is that parts of it are left up to the viewer to decide, this film just preaches that violence is never good and 'Hate breeds Hate', it is very similar to Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing, in this way. In conclusion this is one of the most powerful films I have ever seen with one of the best endings I have ever seen, I believe everyone should watch this film at least once in their life because of the massively important and relevant message it contains.