Jacques Audiard's A Prophet is a magnificent film rich in texture and visual elements as well as a beautiful story of trust, faith, devotion and deception.
The film opens with Malik, a young North African man arriving at a prison complex in Northern France. It seems he's gotten in a fight with cops and is now going to serve six years. Quickly the Corsican mob, who run the underworld in the prison, task him to kill a man who is going to be a witness against them in a trial. He does this and begins to gain their trust.
Malik is indeed Muslim and speaks Arabic, but was raised in a foster home, so he is just as comfortable around white folk as he is around Arabs. He becomes a right-hand man for the mob boss, Cesar Luciani, and begins to take on more and more responsibility in the gang.
He is given a one-day parole ostensibly to help with his rehabilitation, but instead of going to the garage where he's supposed to work, he runs a job for Luciani and gets paid handsomely for it. While out, he begins his own drug running ring and builds street capitol with the criminals inside and outside the prison gates. He then has to navigate the complicated waters of being a servant and member of Luciani's gang as well as being the head of his own burgeoning enterprise. (Note to self: if you ever go to jail for a violent crime, try to do it in France where you not only get fresh baguettes every day as part of your meal, but you get one-day furloughs while serving. Not too bad!)
Technically the film is beautiful. It is shot mostly in chronological order with several dream and fantasy sequences cut into the middle. Malik grows to rely on a phantom of the man he murdered for Luciani as his cellmate and moral foil. The photography by Stephane Fontaine is gorgeous, frequently using natural or available light inside the prison. This is especially powerful in suggesting to us the smallness of the spaces and the intimacy they have with one another and with their own thoughts.
The dream sequences are even more gorgous, using slow motion, masked frames and other visual tricks. Sometimes it's not clear if what we're seeing is inside Malik's head or if it's narration by Audiard. Either way, these elements are central to understanding of Malik's journey. Alexandre Desplat's beautiful score is sometimes violent and sometimes sublime, but fits perfectly with the action onscreen (and how nice to see him not only doing big Hollywood movies, but French films as well!)
The central germ of the story is a very old one about fathers and sons. Malik seems to have no father figure in his life and takes to Luciani very easily. Luciani sees Malik as his heir, despite their ethnic differences, but is naturally a cold, hard man. He hates that Malik is using the protection he offers for his own private business, but he also hates that Malik is showing that he might want something other than what he wants for the kid. He is a man who has lost control of his empire, and his one last hope doesn't care about it.
It is beautiful how Audiard does not show us the big picture until the very end of the film, keeping us guessing about exactly what everything means in the short term. It seems that Malik is merely a very capable employee with his own hopes for self-promotion, but his sometimes insignificant actions add up to a glorious total. It is never clear whether he is incredibly lucky or brilliant and conniving with plans from the beginning. Either he is able to play the chess game six moves ahead or he is able to capitalize on opportunities as they fall at his feet. Regardless, he is a totally fabulous, smart character who frequently questions the morals of his own actions.
The script, by Audiard and Thomas Bidegain (based on an earlier screenplay), is intricate, complex and beautiful. It plays like a long novel with wonderful little characters and audacious power shifts.
The acting is also remarkable led by relative newcomer Tahar Rahim as Malik. He moves elegantly from timid and scared boy simply trying to survive, to smart and confident junior team member, to grown agent of his "father's" business and his own as well. Niels Arestrup as Luciani is also marvelous as the sad, dark gangster who is seeing his life's work fall apart. He had previously worked with Audiard in The Beat My Heart Skipped, as the abusive father, and does an even better job in this role.
This film is basically perfect. It has a beautiful story with a wonderful script, a fabulous cast and a gorgeous matter-of-fact style dotted with elegant artistic moments. This is what every film should hope to be. Intricate but not confusing, simple but not trite, beautiful but not overdone.
Stars: 4 of 4
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best film of the year.
ReplyDeleteIt was okay.
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