Hot on the heels of the two enjoyable but flawed Mesrine films I reviewed last month, last night I watched a French crime movie that's in a different class entirely. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that A Prophet, released earlier this year and nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar, holds its own alongside the very best of its genre produced in any language.
While it lacks the grandiose sweep of the Godfather trilogy or the wise guy wit of Scorsese's early films, what makes this picture so memorable is its complete lack of sentimentality. Set almost entirely within a high security prison, there's no Shawshank Redemption-style uplifting strength in adversity moments here. Jacques Audiard's film is unflinchingly honest in his portrayal of a brutal, unforgiving environment where survival is the name of the game rather than rehabilitation.
Malik (Tahar Rahim), an illiterate teenage Arab experiencing adult incarceration for the first time, is forced to sink or swim in a wing ran by rugged veteran Corsican gangsters. Within weeks, he's forced to murder a fellow Muslim who is set to testify against the external associates of gang leader Luciani (wonderfully played by Niels Arestup) in a horrific but brilliantly directed scene that is instrumental in shaping Malik's future. While the killing haunts his conscience (through a series of ghostly flashbacks), it also hardens him and sets him on the path towards a successful criminal career.
What follows over the next two hours is a young man's gradual development from callow, terrified prison novice to fearless, cunning overlord. Realising he has to play by Luciani's rules to stay alive, Malik does as he's told while learning all the time from his nefarious mentor. Simultaneously, he cultivates the image of a model prisoner, polite, respectful, taking classes and diligently carrying out his inmate duties. As a result, he's granted day releases, which he uses to carry out jobs for the Corsicans while also building his own drug trafficking operation. In the end, after playing all his cards right, he's in the position to become top dog himself.
Audiard vividly captures the bleak, claustrophobic world that Malik and his fellow felons inhabit, shooting A Prophet in an unfussy, ultra-realistic style that makes the story feel horribly but compellingly alive. While the violence that takes place is not for the faint hearted, the film's greatest strength is its characterisation and the alarming broader themes of a racially divided, institutionally corrupt France. In this unforgiving world, Malik does not receive redemption, nor indeed does he seek it. Instead, he realises early on that it is the law of the jungle rather than the law of the land that really matters, and while his journey is scarcely one of hope, it's nevertheless utterly absorbing.
Rating: 9 out of 10. An understated masterpiece, A Prophet is a gritty, intelligent triumph and proof that continental European cinema can often rival or even surpass the best Hollywood has to offer. Highly recommended.
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