BBBBB
(out of 5)
Superb epic that presents a French prison as a microcosm for one man’s coming to power. Tahar Rahim arrives in the slammer after being arrested for his first adult crime after a lifetime spent in juvenile delinquency. Unsure of himself, illiterate and vulnerable, he is immediately taken in by the Corsican mob who rule supreme at the prison and force him to work against his own Arab brothers. Time passes, relationships alter, and he soon finds himself a well-read, multilingual, savvy power player who might be challenging his beloved mentor (Niels Arestrup) by seizing control of his own domain. The direction is gritty, tough and unsentimental, but it is punctuated by moments of lyrical beauty and profound tenderness. It’s extremely long but never boring, exhausting in its magnificent scope but wholly encompassing in its charting of the development of one central, wholly sympathetic and constantly challenging character. A true masterpiece.
Why Not Productions, Chic Films, Page 114, France 2 Cinéma, Union Générale Cinématographique, BIM Distribuzione, Celluloid Dreams, France 2, Canal+, CinéCinéma, Région Ile-de-France, Conseil Régional de Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur, Centre National de la Cinématographie, Sofica UGC 1, Sofica Soficinéma 4, Soficinéma 5, Neon Productions
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Screenplay by Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, based on a screenplay by Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit
Cinematography by Stephane Fontaine
Produced by Lauranne Bourrachot, Martine Cassinelli, Pascal Caucheteux, Marco Cherqui
Music by Alexandre Desplat
Production Design by Michel Bartelemy
Costume Design by Virginie Montel
Film Editing by Juliette Welfling
Independent Spirit Awards 2009.
