La Haine
La Haine is the 1995 based black and white film by Mathieu Kassovitz. Based on a single day of three young friends (who come from immigrant families) living in a french council estate. Surrounding them is racism, gangs, violence and ultimately anarchy. The day unravels to be a truly strange one, constantly running into sticky situations and having run ins with the police and gangs.
It is a movie that bleeds rawness in the form that Kassovitz did not have enough money to use special effects or hire many professional actors. Most of the movie is filmed with a hand held camera, most of the actors from the streets (apart from the three main characters, including Vincent Cassel) and real footage used of the 85 - 96 riots in which a lot of the film is based upon and which were still taking place while filming. The film is dedicated to the people who died in these riots.
"Ce film est dédié à ceux disparus pendant sa fabrication".
Regardless, the cinematography is nothing less than genius with camera angles obscene to most, showing the parisian city of Chanteloup-les-vignes in chaos from the violence that inhabits the surroundings. Modern day suburban France is shown perfectly, through forms of music (heavy french rap), dance (break dancing) and violence in the form of young adults presenting themselves as gangsters.
La Haine is a movie that derives itself from other movies in its same genre and creates a truly raw, real experience of what suburban french life is like, while portraying three young characters who represent a whole scene of young adults living in an environment which reeks violence. If you or not a fan of gangster movies, watch it for the cinematography alone, along side the movie being witty, engaging and ultimately very entertaining.
King Flamingod
The Warriors
The Warriors is one of the most loved cult movies ever. Based on Sols Yurick's 1965 novel of the same name (however very different to each other) the movie takes place in Cony Island, Brooklyn, a city jam packed with various gangs, represented through the their turf, colours and the clothes they wear.
The plot is fixated around the opening scene of a midnight summit called upon by Cyrus, the leader of the biggest and most dominant gangs in Cony Island; the Gramercy Riffs. As all the gangs arrive, Cyrus gives an impressive speech of bringing peace among gangs to create a citywide truce and to come together and take over the city, yelling the significant words'CAN YOU DIG IT' repeatedly. All the joy of the proposition is followed by the murder of Cyrus by a snarky little gang called the Rouges, lead by their psychotic leader; Luther, who shoots Cyrus and then blames it on the Warriors. This causes all the gangs in Brooklyn, including the Gramercy Riffs to go after the Warriors and either 'kill them' or 'bring them into the Riffs'. Following this the Warriors encounter many interesting and memorable gangs in an attempt to get back to their turf, including the 'Baseball Furies', the 'Lizzies', the 'Orphans', the 'Turnbull AC's' and the 'Punks'.
The cast for the movie was comprised of a talented selection of individuals, offering convincing characters to the scene, however notably, for most of the cast, The Warriors was their breakthrough into hollywood, and for the most stayed their only piece of inspiring work.
Directed by Walter Hill, the biggest mass appeal for me was the cinematography and how beautifully shot everything was. Filmed in 1979, the movie was quite groundbreaking in terms of how it was shot and the controversy it stirred up. A week after The Warriors was released, the film was removed from several cinema viewings as it was linked to various outbreaks of vandalism and three killings and Southern California and Boston. Any form of media towards the film was removed and many cinemas chose not to play the movie in their establishment. Looking back at how things must have been in the 70's, its quite shocking to watch the movie and compare the modest amount of violence to the amount a recent day action number contains, the difference is ridiculous.
Their are many reasons why The Warriors might appeal to movie-gowers; the intensity of the storyline - the erratic characters, such as Ajax who give the movie a rad feel to it - the number of interesting gangs, dressed in such strange (and fucking cool) attire - the impressive and aspiring soundtrack - to how beautifully shot it was. The Warriors remains my favourite film and it will probably always stay that way.
Below is a trailer for the 1979 cult movie The Warriors
Waltz with Bashir
This is by far one of the best animated films I have seen. The plot is very thick and keeps you entertained throughout. The animation is nothing short of incredible and the mood is captured amazingly. it's a war story but with moments of comedy, education and dream-based sequences that amaze.
The only down side to this film is that it's english subtitled because the film is in Hebrew.
Also, read the graphic novel before the film. The best thing for me was watching the illustrations come to life.
19th Feb
The Darjeeling limited
Three American brothers who have not spoken to each other in a year set off on a train voyage across India with a plan to find themselves and bond with each other -- to become brothers again like they used to be. Their "spiritual quest", however, veers rapidly off-course (due to events involving over-the-counter pain killers, Indian cough syrup, and pepper spray), and they eventually find themselves stranded alone in the middle of the desert with eleven suitcases, a printer, and a laminating machine. At this moment, a new, unplanned journey suddenly begins.
