Quickcard Review A Prophet

Directed by: Jacques Audiard Cast: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Hichem Yacoubi Running Time: 2 hr 30 mins Rating: PG-13

COMPLETE COVERAGE - 33rd Portland International Film Festival Country: France

PLOT: Frenchman Malik El Djebena (Rahim) is part Arab and part Corsican. He's put in prison for six years and must try to find his way, caught between two gangs. A mission to kill another prisoner leads him to attempt to rise up through the prison ranks and make a name for himself.

WHO'S IT FOR? Prisons and gangs. Those are the two key words for this flick. The film does take its time, so be prepared to really get to know Malik.

OVERALL

Malik is a scared 19-year-old who can't read. You care for him. You root for him. There is nothing more important for this film than that quality. Even though he is asked to, chooses to, and is forced to do some awful things, we still care for this man. I had no awareness of the Corsican and Arab divide in France, but this film could just have easily taken place in America. In fact, it's hard for my mind not to drift to Martin Scorsese taking this film and casting Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro in the leads.

Malik has a very difficult decision to make early on, since César Luciani (Arestrup) expects his obedience. The ownership that César has over this prison is impossible to avoid. Malik doesn't know what road he's heading down, but it's fascinating to watch him grow. Yes, you will squirm on occasion with this film. If watching someone simply pick up a razor blade is tough for you to take, then watching Malik practice with the blade in his mouth is going to kill you. The tricks of the prison trade are always something engaging and you'll get a handful of new ones here, like passing the cell phone.

There is a challenge in this film to keep up. There are a host of characters, and with any foreign language film, your focus can't be on the visual aspects of the characters as much as you want. Telling them apart can be tough. A Prophet does give you a chance to focus, with full screens of the character's names every once in a while. There's also the matter of multiple languages being spoken, and that was something I couldn't always hear the difference between. Toward the end of this film we're barely introduced to characters who are supposedly in charge. Luckily, the focus quickly goes back to Malik and his relationship with César and the Arabs. It's a film that easily stands on its own, even though my American mind can't help but think what Scorsese would do.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10