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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 12/24/2009 : 11:36:15
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Un prophète is way too long, but it's rivetting nonetheless. And, if like me, you've never seen Tahar Rahim's previous French tv appearances, you're in for a real acting treat. It's his first real screen role, and talk about being thrown in at the deep end ... he has to transform himself over a screentime of some 6 years from a shy street lad of 19, capable of murder, to a cocky and confident but wary young man who's carved out a mini empire by fair means and foul.
Based on highly-experienced director Jacques Audiard's screenplay, this is not a pretty world. And I'm not saying he shies away from brutality in painting the truth. But nothing ever feels gratuitous. There's a welcome balance between scenes that propel character and those that propel action. There's a traceability to Godard's early work, but without the light-hearted insouciance.
In this world everything matters. Streets and avenues and prison corridors have only one way out. Though the narrative is placed almost entirely in a French jail, the social domains are Arab and Corsican. How Rahim negotiates his way between the two is the meat of the film.
If you get a chance to see it, do!
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ciúnas 
"hands down"
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Posted - 12/28/2009 : 22:30:53
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Agreed. Powerful, compelling stuff. The dog-eat-dog world Malik (Rahim) inhabits is created very economically & credibly. The potentially bum-numbing running time — 155 minutes — would be a major deterrent to me as a rule, but I found I was engaged throughout.
The razor-blade-in-the-mouth business near the start, plus the use to which the blade is put, had me wincing, but otherwise I thought the violence was about on a par with your average Hollywood action movie, although less stylised.
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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 02/16/2010 : 17:57:16
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A Prophet
I had to see this in two sittings and (therefore?) didn't find the running time too long. It's good but I didn't love it. I'm not sure there's really anything new about it.
4/5 |
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Un prophète
