La Haine 3

La Haine – intro In my sequence I’m looking at the opening of La Haine where the audience are faced with real footage of the Paris riots in 1993. The opening shot is of a man on his own faced with a row of police officers this immediately could connote that you’re going to be on your own when faced with the police that there power in society will over power the innocent. During this shot we hear him say “your murderers, you can shoot we only have stones” so again we are shown as an audience that this could be an acquiring theme to this film that the power of the police will be too strong for the public and youth and that they have to use natural objects to fight this war. But this does become ironic with a theme of a gun has gone missing throughout the film. The lighting in the frame is covering the row of police so that by giving them this light could connote that they are more superior in this war they have the equipment and the power. The length of the clip so only around 5 seconds which in that 5 seconds we as an audience can see different views from others and that their views determine the outcome to the film, which the word “murderers” becomes apparent at the end. The next frame is of a black background with the word “la Haine” hate this is done over no dialogue but silence which really is a contrast to the man shouting to the police it’s as if it’s the man’s feelings towards the police and government and also this conflict creates hate and worry on society. The theme of black and white is foreshadowed throughout the whole film and you can see the colours as back being hate and white being hope but when you look at the themes and the historical text to this film you know that really there was no hope or the only hope was to kill a police man to get revenge. The next frame which so far we as an audience have only seen one clip with sound and plus no colour which alone could connote this dullness and lack of life that the youth will have to go through with violence. So for the second time we hear a voice over telling us about a story of a man who fell 50 yards and as he was falling he would say “so far so good” now having had told us this from the beginning we now know that sooner or later there will be this fall and then the landing will come very fast, as this is said we see a petrol bomb being thrown into a image of the world so now a theme of rebellion against the world and as it hits the world there is an explosion of fire with could connote that the landing will end in death but the landing will become the end as the fire could metaphorically connote that after the fall it will all burn out and finish. We are then introduced to music as we see another petrol bomb being thrown into a car, the music is Bob Marley’s “Burnin and lootin” now Bob Marley is seen to have been a character that was for peace and freedom so there is a slight irony to that being played over scenes of violence and rebellion. Also the music suggests a particular way of seeing the documentary footage that over this reality there is something shadowing it we don’t have sound over these clips only the music so we as an audience are forced to see these clips and listen to the lyrics of the song. Next the frame is moved on by a cut to a extreme zoom on a police badge then as the camera zooms out we can still see this badge but through a cage so this could connote that the police will have this protection and that if you want to fight them then you’re have a barrier to break down first but as the frame cuts we see police putting cages on to their trucks which could connote although they have this power they are still venerable to the society also during that shot the policeman looks directly into the camera which gives this reality to the film that we will be involved as an audience.The flow of frames throughout the 5 minutes of real footage is moved at a medium pase not fast but not slow so gives us this sense of relaxation within the police but when we see the footage of the riots it then

picks up pase. The next frame is of a march of people going through the streets with banners and flags and one man walks by and he holds up this poster saying “victory” these type of sings are foreshadowed throughout the film it’s as if words speak louder than sounds and that they need to find their place in society. There is a cross dissolve from the marching in the streets back to the police putting cages on their trucks so here we have this change due to the editing so we as the audience are seeing the police and then the people protesting during the frame we see the police tighten the cages this could connote that they are tightening down on society and nothing will break them down that the police will drill into society and cause problems which it was the police actions that caused these riots by shooting a young boy. The next cut is to again the public marching through the streets and then another cut to the police putting these cages on which suggest also they are ready to fight and they are preparing for the conflict from that frame there is a fade up, on a close up of a police man and his baton and then there is a wipe from the zoom out to a line of riot police this again not lasting long only 3 seconds and then a pan up to a line of the public dancing around which lasted 6 seconds so we have our attention drawn more to the public and not the police so an indication that maybe society needs more than just the police. Also the titles that come up on the screen add to that crime theme were they are on a black background with white text which looks like the text you would find in a police file on a criminal which then could connote that the shots we see are all from the police view and not societies which can link into how the youth with Hubert and Said trying to break away from the crime and the estate. Immediately then we as an audience are faced with the police throwing smoke and gas grenades and then a cut shot to cars on fire and the police running down the street and violently hitting people. With this we see the police as being very violent and corrupt and again I would say this is a theme that is carried through the film more for the ending, and that then looking more into the historical context on the Paris riots 1 75% of the police were corrupt and would beat people up so far that in some cases they would die, and again the ending I would say and the interrogation also foreshadows this. The next frame is a jump cut to looters and people throwing petrol bombs this become ironic when the song chorus comes on “burnin and lootin” which in a way becomes comical for the audience watching. Then its overshadowed by images of the medical staff trying to resuscitate someone which then becomes hard hitting for the audience when you can see that people have died because of these fights and then again a cut to another ironic sign saying “ don’t forget the police kill” this following the frame with all the medical actions which with that sign connotes that the police will kill to get justice, then there is a fast wipe to a police man with a camera filming the people who are trying to break down the fence to get to the police therefore it gives us the audience a sense of reality and also this documentary which my thought was on looking like an animal documentary where he is filming these people metaphorically animals due to their action on violence and towards the police, This then is how the media could also see these youths and people. As we get towards the end of the tiles for the first time we hear the diegetic sound of the riots with glass smashing and the crackling of the fire burning also the police firing guns and people screaming, so at this point where we have the sound and the music volume down this then begins to feel like a film but more towards the documentary side, but this does not last long when we hear a voiceover of the news report and the editing’s use of a sound bride so it adds an enigma for a short while until we see the TV and the news report. During the 1

www.independent.co.uk/.../cars-and-shops-set-ablaze-as-paris-riots-continue-471204.html

report they only seem to focus on that all of this fighting was the estates fault so this then creates a theme that even the media like to blame the youthful society for the rebellion due to a killing of a young boy and they also only give the statistics of the police that have been injured or killed and not the innocent in society so connoting that the police are again in power and more important. And even later on in the film there are signs that the youth hate the media when they throw a stone at the media crew connoting that maybe they have this hatred for the media too.