"The Prophet" is a film that records French prisons. Jacques Oudiya denied such claims when interviewed. I don't know what a French prison is like. With this film, if you are faithful to life, then I think this statement is very appropriate. It's more appropriate and sincere than French "Shawshank Redemption" or French crime epic film.
Malik (played by Taha Rahim) is a little Arab gangster, to be precise, a little French youth with a half-Arab descent. He was sentenced to 6 years for crimes such as fighting, robbery, and assaulting the police. At the age of 19, he was put in prison and the state assumed the responsibility of enlightenment. The paragraph where the lawyer asked him to sign in order to get paid was quite helpless, and he went into jail with a stunned life, and he was ignorant about the future, and it was really profound.
There are markets everywhere, prisons everywhere, and some rules are the same. Deprived of freedom, it is natural to deprive certain rights. Stripped and searched, had to shave off his hair, and received the baptism of welcoming new students inside. Malik was lucky. In addition to getting a few punches, he was treated as a gay guy and his sneakers were looted. Soon a big guy came to his door and took the initiative to be his backer. Of course, there must be a conspiracy here, accepting this deal, Malik's official underworld life can be regarded as the beginning.
Caesar, a Corsican, a big man who can call the wind and rain in prison. After training Malik, this junior stepped on his feet. The gang ritual he prepared for Malik is the climax of the show, hiding the blade in his mouth, and then cutting off Ruby's throat. Many directors like to use fast-paced montages for such violent scenes. Jacques Oudiya used a slow and anxious mood to contrast, and even extended the violent sensory stimulation with the beat of the noodles in the violent picture. The red blood was splashed in the gloomy French painting, just because he smelled reality. The bloody smell made me feel more shocked and uncomfortable.
The character of Rubi is interesting. After his death, his soul is assigned another role by the director. He often runs into Malik's spiritual illusion and reveals secret secrets to this contradictory mortal. In fact, it is to send the consolation of evil spirits to the criminal who has killed people and cannot get rid of the evil. This kind of desire also comes from Malik’s instinct. Before he died, Rubi told Malik that he would leave a few books to Malik, and he also worked hard to persuade Malik to learn culture, which seemed to fit a certain point of view. Literate people are quite in awe of knowledge.
Russell said in "Moral Philosophy" that "obedience to the will of God will produce an unparalleled sense of security, and obedience stems from fear, regardless of whether the leader we obey is a man or a god."
I want to say that Malik got enlightenment from the illusion. , He thought he was a prophet, and everything was the will of God. In fact, it is not difficult to understand the spiritual and material aspects. All the excuses, even if they are put on the halo of God, are man-made products. Either there is a mental problem, or it is mentally normal enough to be able to play with everyone with super wisdom.
Perhaps the religious color rendered by Jacques Oudiya is not as superficial as I understand it. There are indeed too many national traditions and religious cultures that I don't know.
A stepping stone is needed to achieve any legendary character.
Ryad (from the name guessed that he is of Moroccan origin), a late-stage cancer inmate who helped Malik learn culture. He is a very real person. He works in a supermarket, has a wife and children, and raised a mentally ill dog, but he found it all. he. His existence aims to satirize the social state of difficult life, and at the same time is Malik's loyal comrade-in-arms who succeeded in killing the blood. In the end, he died, and even the daughter-in-law took the children to Malik's hands. The other is Jordi, a young Egyptian who was arrested for smuggling and trafficking in drugs. From him, Malik found an entrepreneurial project to make a fortune. But these are all small springboards, remodeled like model students in prison, but outside the high wall is a different scene. This is called the Mingxiu plank road, and it is secretive. Even the boss behind the scenes who gave Malik all the conveniences was deceived. Therefore, after six years of hard work, such a small gangster finally eliminated the old Caesar and became the new gang boss.
In the end, it was beautiful and witty. In addition to throwing blood for the elder brother, the younger brother also has to live up to his heart. Malik turned his head and glanced at the blatant caravan for several times, and took his hand out of his pocket. He must have made a certain gesture, but cut off the screen. In fact, when Malik walked out of the detention center, he inadvertently looked around and nodded as a foreshadowing of his identity. It's a bit like molesting brothers who can't figure out what the big brother thinks. It's full of entertainment, but it also has its value. The magical effect came out when the well-known song "mack the knife" was embedded in the screen. Just like summarizing the central idea, the lyrics are singing a heinous bastard. Although it is not the original version of Bobby Darin, it is replaced with another flavor performed by Jimmie dale gilmore. The very personal style of writing makes jazzy. The rich songs are full of ethereal and evil nature, but it strengthens the temperament of the film. Bobby Darin's fame song fulfilled his dream of becoming a legend. As a result, singing this way, good or bad, can be regarded as the end of Malik's legend.
To say that the film is well-made, there is no objection. The shooting technique also strives to make breakthroughs, creating a sense of peeping lens in many places. Shady and out-of-picture audio appear frequently, and the background sound effect that simulates the heartbeat renders the atmosphere of the scene. But as far as the length of the film is concerned, it is really tormenting, because it has too much Franz romantic temperament, violence and lyricism seem a bit out of place here. Although imitated Hollywood's narrative method, it is too delicate, but there is a feeling of procrastination. It seems that only the first forty minutes can make people concentrate, follow the camera to turn the prison all over, and then return to the story, there is a state of sleepy and unwillingness. But there is a good feeling that comes from the aftertaste after watching the movie, and then go back and watch it again, the hand that fast-forwards with the remote control is much more flexible, and the reward is also a lot.
Tips for small notes:
Origin of the film: France
Director: Jacques Oudiya, a capable director who works slowly and carefully.
The 2009 Cannes Film Festival Competition Unit Jury Award, which will compete for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, is highly praised and affirmed by the industry.
It is said that the character template of this story is taken from the legendary gangster Jacques Merlin in France in the 70s. There are also two French "Public Enemy Number One" in the film related to this person, played by Vincent Casso.
Corsican: A resident who lives on the French island of Corsica. The common language is French, but they also use Italian in daily life. Believing in Catholicism, its folk traditions and material culture are similar to those of Italy. In France as a whole, its economic and cultural life is relatively lagging behind other regions.
French Arabs: After the French colonies gained independence in the 1960s, a large number of immigrants from the original colonial countries remained in France and became French citizens. Since then, Arab immigrants have continuously moved into France through various means. Among Arab immigrants, most of them are manual workers with relatively low educational level. The place where Arabs usually gather is the Muslim worship center, and Islam has become the second largest religion in France.
"Mack the Knife" has been performed by many people, including the super-biggest Paul Anka, the jazz king Louis Armstrong, the bad boy Robbie Williams, the West Side Boys and so on.
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