Analyse how the themes of youth culture and youth oppression are prominent in the council estate scene of "La Haine"

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Analyse how the themes of youth culture and youth oppression are prominent in the council estate scene of “La Haine”

La Haine is the French term for “the hate”. The film shows a day in the life of three French men, with similar interests, but very different backgrounds. La Haine shows the illegal dealings they are involved in, and their unusual home lives. The main character, Abdel is never actually shown. But the other characters are frustrated because he was beaten up by the violent police. Also the story is based around him. La Haine is an action-packed crime film, which has unique features, mainly as it is set in black and white. The film was realised in 1995, and directed by Matthew Kassowitz. The main stars were Vincent Cassel (Vinz), Said Taghaimou (Said), and Hubert Kounde (Hubert).

The film analyses youth culture and youth oppression. This meant how young people acted, thought and were influenced by their peers.

This essay will analyse the council estate scene in La Haine. The essay will also comment on the media technique used by Kassowitz, and the way each character behaved at certain points of the scene.

At the beginning of the scene, Hubert (a black French man) is shown going into his flat, at a medium camera angle. The lighting is dark in this part of the scene; Kassowitz does this to show a dirty atmosphere. The camera angle, deco and the way the furniture is set out, makes the flat very claustrophobic. Kassowitz deliberately did this, to show how small the flats were inside, as well as outside. Hubert lives with his pregnant mother and sister. He kisses them at different points in the scene; he does this to show he loves them. Hubert is asked by his sister to help with her homework; however he can’t do this as he isn’t as well educated as her. Hubert then visits his mother in the kitchen. He asks about a family member, which isn’t mentioned in any other part of the film, this character is in prison. This could show the family has a troubled past. Hubert’s mother than explains she is in debt. Hubert leaves the money, (which is from drugs) on the fridge. Hubert left the money on the fridge, because he is the money source of the house, and by leaving it on the fridge (the family’s life support machine), he is contributing in the run of the family. Hubert and his mother then go in the living room. The claustrophobic atmosphere is more noticeable in here, because of the angle of the television. Hubert tells his mother how he hates the Projects, and the trouble caused on it. His mother is calm and supportive, however I doubt anyone else knows about Hubert’s hatred towards the Projects.

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Whilst that is happening, Said and Vinz (the other main characters) visit a grocery shop. They are intimidating towards other customers, because Vinz can’t afford to pay for his product. At the beginning of this section of the scene, the aisles are shown by a panned camera. This part of the scene appears to be calm and relaxing, until Vinz bullies an older customer, because she won’t give him any money for his product. Maybe an older person would react calmer in the same situation. However Kassowitz may have specifically told the actor who plays Vinz, to over react ...

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