Release date: 7th June 2010
Certificate: 18
Running time: 149 mins
Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
Genre: Crime/Drama/Thriller/Action
Studio: Optimum
Format: DVD
Country: France/Italy
Jacques Audiard’s A Prophet carries with it an impressive list of credentials - an Academy Award Nomination, a BAFTA win, a Golden Globe Nomination, the Grand Prize of the Jury Award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and nine French Cesar Awards including Best Film, and that’s just the icing on the cake. With this level of acclaim, you’d be forgiven for carrying a certain weight of expectation.
Sentenced to six years for what is never made entirely clear (though violence toward the law is hinted at an early stage), 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (an excellent Tahar Rahim) finds himself thrust into one of France’s toughest prisons. With no friends and no contacts, and not exactly physically imposing, Malik sticks out like a sore thumb, and subsequently struggles to adapt to his new life inside.
Spotting an opportunity to use him to his own gain, Veteran inmate and Mafia kingpin Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup) offers to protect Malik in return for favours. Soon enough, Cesar has him doing all his dirty work, including killing a fellow inmate in one of the films more intense set pieces.
For a large amount of his time Malik goes about his business while completely under the thumb of his Mafia boss, who is so powerful, he essentially has the prison staff in his pocket.
Feeling deflated and used, Malik soon learns to read and write, and slowly learns the tricks of the trade, and becomes more influential as a result. With twelve-hour day releases, he is able to run errands on the outside, while simultaneously building his own drugs racket.
He soon develops more respect from his fellow inmates, much to the annoyance of his mafia boss, who wants him to have no ties with anyone but himself. As events unfold, it’s not long before he refuses to jump through Cesar’s hoops, plotting his own ascendancy through the violent and brutal hierarchy of his fellow inmates to become a formidable player in his own right…
Director Jacques Audiard creates a gritty and realistic prison environment. He is aided by some terrific performances, most notably from Tahar Rahim, who is the driving force throughout. There is seldom a scene without him. What makes us root for Malik is the boyish naivety he possesses. Even when he’s slicing a man’s throat or beating fellow inmates with heavy objects, you always get the sense that Malik is doing it because he has to. He is putty in the Mafia’s hand. He’s cornered and if he doesn’t do as he’s told, he’s a dead man. Our sympathy for him is prevalent throughout. We are left in no doubt that he is at the lower end of the pecking order amongst his mafia friends, being ordered around like an unwelcome guest, making coffee and delivering bread.
Quite touchingly, upon his day releases, we witness his delight at being on a plane for the first time, gawping in awe at the views above, and enjoying a paddle on the beach - later caressing the sand from his shoes when back in his cell at night. This is a man who clearly hasn’t had much of the happier things in life.
A Prophet, however, is not without its faults. The intricacies of the plot are not always easy to follow. Who’s doing what and why is a question you may find yourself asking more than once, and repeat viewings are perhaps necessary to fully understand its double dealings.
The two-and-a-half-hour running time is, at times, felt. The first 45 minutes fly by, but thereafter, the momentum occasionally drops, and your focus may wander. This is due in no small part to prison life being swapped at frequent intervals for the criminal activities on the outside, as Malik is put to work outside his prison walls, which is simply not as interesting or compelling.
A supernatural element, which takes place throughout, seems at odds with the rest of the film, as Malik’s first murder victim appears regularly in his cell, perhaps the ghostly image of Malik’s conscience, or is Malik simply going insane? We never really find out.
There are echoes of other prison/crime dramas throughout, with a number of scenes reminding you of greats such as The Godfather and The Shawshank Redemption, whilst Rahim resembles a young De Niro, especially when cradling his brother’s baby.
A prophet delivers an expansive and, at times, riveting portrayal of French prison life and criminal activity, but ultimately suffers from a convoluted and familiar plot, and some long lapses in momentum. Thank goodness for Tahar Rahim, the films major saving grace, who delivers one of the best performances of recent times. It is he who is most deserving of the acclaim. GY
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