La Haine (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

story and acting. Anything with Vincent Cassel in it is worthy.

Item as described, thanks a lot

I first experienced this powerful movie during the mid-90's, and it remains one of my favorite films. Director Mathieu Kassovitz scored a bullseye by casting three talented french actors just hitting their stride: Vincent Cassel, Hubert Koundé and Saïd Taghmaoui.Much like "Do the Right Thing", La Haine shows us what can happen when the inner city of any country reaches it's boiling point. What's important is that the film doesn't glorify violence, it expresses the sentiment that violence ultimately solves nothing.I loved the cinematography, and the opportunity to explore the seedier sides of Paris. The style of shooting and authenticity brought to the characters makes it seem as though you're watching an actual documentary, rather than a fictional account.I was blown away the first time I watched this film, and buying it from Amazon was a great investment. If you want to watch three excellent actors in breakout roles, breathing life into a gritty urban drama, add La Haine to your movie collection.

I was a little nervous going into this because of the music and setting, I thought it was going to have a lot of violence and drug use. Overall I was wrong. The film itself is very good but after watching the supplements my appreciation for it really increased. The film is a look at what it's like to live in the public housing areas on the outskirts of Paris. Except for everyone speaking French it feels exactly like you're in the same areas of New York. One of the reasons the film was made was to make people aware that these areas exist in France and that there is a lot of violence and unrest in these areas. This isn't only a very entertaining, well-done film, it's also a bit of a lesson that's very interesting.

All the features are great. Commentary is very entertaining, all the interviews were informative.Would recommend to anyone, especially fans of the movie.

This is one of the deepest and most symbolic movies directed about the failure of French society to integrate young people- or young men- from underprivileged socio-economic backgrounds. It is a quasi documentary based on two major police “blunders” which resulted in two tragic deaths. This film is so rich that it must be viewed several times to grasp all cinematographic and cultural references. A wake-up call.

This prescient, explosive street drama set in the slummy projects of Paris (still simmering today after hauntingly similar riots in 2005) takes place over the course of 24 hours. Taking a cue from Scorsese and Spike Lee, Kassovitz employs a visceral, bag-of-tricks visual style that lacks subtlety but will certainly keep you riveted. His young actors, representing a motley cross section of alienated outsiders, are fresh and funny, especially in their chest puffing, pop-culture-inflected banter. Giving voice to the voiceless and volatile, and building to a jarring climax, "La Haine" is an indelible, up-to-the-minute portrait of underclass rage in contemporary France.

With LA HAINE he wrote and directed, Mathieu Kassovitz earned international recognition and won the 1995 Cannes festival Best Director award and the 1996 César (French Oscar) award in the Best Film category. He directed since two movies which also pleased audiences and film critics altogether : The Crimson Rivers and Gothika (Widescreen Edition). Vincent Cassel who plays the main character of LA HAINE is the son of the well-known French actor Jean-Pierre Cassel.Shot in a glorious black & white, LA HAINE gets a royal treatment from the Criterion boys. If you still hesitate to see the film, Jodie Foster's introduction will sweep up your last reluctances. Take also a look at the trailers before seeing the film, you'll understand then why so many of us were so eager to see LA HAINE in 1995.With LA HAINE, Mathieu Kassovitz found the only way to interest, nowadays, young people in sociologic or political topics like Frank Capra did in the 40's. These films must coat their content with an attractive packaging. Hence the numerous references, in LA HAINE, to Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee or Martin Scorsese's productions.A DVD zone Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.