View source for La Haine

{{short description|1995 film by Mathieu Kassovitz}}
{{use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{distinguish|Haine (film)}}
{{for-multi|the unrelated play|La Haine (drama)|other uses|Haine (disambiguation)}}
{{Expand French|topic=cult|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = La Haine
| image          = Haine.jpg
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster, with the [[tagline]] {{lang|fr|Jusqu'ici tout va bien...}} ("So far, so good…")
| director       = [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]
| writer         = Mathieu Kassovitz
| producer       = Christophe Rossignon
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Vincent Cassel]]
* [[Hubert Koundé]]
* [[Saïd Taghmaoui]]
}}
| cinematography = Pierre Aïm
| editing        = {{Plainlist|
* Mathieu Kassovitz
* Scott Stevenson
}}
| music          = [[Assassin (group)|Assassin]]
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* Les Productions Lazennec
* [[StudioCanal|Le Studio Canal+]]
* La Sept Cinéma
* Kasso Inc. Productions
}}
| distributor    = [[Marin Karmitz|MKL Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|df=y|1995|5|27|[[1995 Cannes Film Festival|Cannes]]|1995|5|31|France}}
| runtime        = 98 minutes
| country        = France
| language       = French
| budget         = €2.6 million<ref name="JPBox Office">{{cite web|url=http://www.jpbox-office.com/fichfilm.php?id=3984|title=La Haine (1995)|website=JP's Box-Office|access-date=8 April 2012}}</ref>
| gross          = $15.3 million<ref name="JPBox Office"/>
}}
'''{{Lang|fr|La Haine}}''' ({{IPA|fr|la ɛn}}, {{literal translation|Hatred}}; released in the United States as '''''Hate''''') is a 1995 French [[social thriller]] film written, co-edited, and directed by [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].<ref>{{cite web|title=La Haine|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/la-haine-film-qxnzzxq6vlgtnzc3mdq4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212005435/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/la-haine-film-qxnzzxq6vlgtnzc3mdq4|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 February 2022|access-date=2022-02-12|publisher=[[British Board of Film Classification]]}}</ref> Starring [[Vincent Cassel]], [[Hubert Koundé]] and [[Saïd Taghmaoui]], the film chronicles a day and night in the lives of three friends from a poor immigrant neighbourhood in the [[Banlieue|suburbs]] of [[Paris]]. The title derives from a line spoken by one of them, Hubert: "{{lang|fr|La haine attire la haine!}}", "hatred breeds hatred". Kassovitz was awarded the Best Director prize at the [[1995 Cannes Film Festival]].

==Plot==
The film opens with a montage of news footage depicting urban riots in a {{lang|fr|[[banlieue]]}} in the commune of {{lang|fr|[[Chanteloup-les-Vignes]]|italic=no}} near Paris. The riots are the result of a local man named {{lang|fr|Abdel Ichaha|italic=no}} being gravely injured in police custody and is hospitalized in intensive care. The riots escalate, leading to a siege of the local police station and the loss of a police officer's revolver. 

The film follows the lives of three friends of Abdel, all young men from immigrant families, over approximately the next twenty consecutive hours.

Vinz, a young Jewish man with an aggressive temperament, seeks revenge for Abdel's injuries. He harbors a deep hatred for all police officers and secretly emulates [[Travis Bickle]], from the American film ''[[Taxi Driver]]'', posturing in front of his bathroom mirror. {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}}, a Christian Afro-French boxer and small-time drug dealer, aspires to escape the {{lang|fr|banlieue}} and create a better life for himself. But, his boxing gymnasium was destroyed in the riots. {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}}, a young North African Muslim, acts as a mediator between Vinz and {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}}, who constantly argue.

The three friends lead a directionless daily routine and frequently find themselves under police surveillance. At a rooftop party that is broken up by the police, Vinz insults a plainclothes officer. After the trio leaves, Vinz reveals that he has discovered the [[.44 Magnum]] revolver lost during the riot. He plans to use it to kill a police officer if Abdel dies. While {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}} disapproves, Vinz secretly takes the gun with him. They try to visit Abdel in the hospital but are stopped by the police. {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} is arrested after they aggressively refuse to leave, but he is later released with the assistance of a police officer who knows his brother.

Vinz and {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}} disagree about their perspectives on policing and violence, and they temporarily part ways. {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} accompanies Vinz, while {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}} briefly returns home. 

They reunite at another gathering in the {{lang|fr|banlieue}}. It descends into chaos when Abdel's brother attempts to murder a police officer as an act of revenge. In a  confrontation with the police, the three  narrowly escape after Vinz almost shoots a riot officer. They board a train to Paris. Their  interactions with both friendly and hostile Parisians cause several encounters to escalate into risky confrontations.

In a public restroom, they encounter a Polish survivor of the [[gulag]]. He tells them a story about a man who froze to death after refusing to relieve himself in public near the train and failing to re-board it in time. The trio don't understand what the story means. 

Later, they visit {{lang|fr|Astérix|italic=no}}, a frequent cocaine user who owes money to {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}}. Tempers rise as {{lang|fr|Astérix|italic=no}} appears to force Vinz to play [[Russian roulette]], but the gun was secretly unloaded. Later they encounter [[plainclothes police]] officers who arrest {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} and {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}}, while Vinz manages to escape. The police officers verbally and physically abuse the duo before jailing them until late at night. The three miss the last train home from [[Gare Saint-Lazare|Saint-Lazare station]] and spend the night on the streets.

After failing to [[hot-wiring|hotwire]] a car and being kicked out of an art gallery, the trio make their way to a rooftop, where they insult some passing [[skinhead]]s. They take shelter in a shopping mall, where they hear a news broadcast reporting Abdel's death. Later, Vinz disappears. Hubert and {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} find him pointing a [[finger gun]] at a police officer; the two angrily abandon Vinz at the mall. 

But, Hubert and {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} later encounter the group of skinheads they had harassed, who now mercilessly attack them. Vinz intervenes and holds one of the skinheads at gunpoint. Although Hubert pushes for Vinz to kill the guy, he hesitates and finally lets the skinhead go. 

In the early morning, the trio returns home. Vinz gives the gun to {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}}. Vinz and {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} encounter the officer whom Vinz had insulted at the rooftop party. The officer seizes Vinz, threatening him with a loaded gun against his head. {{lang|fr|Hubert|italic=no}} rushes to their aid, but the officer accidentally discharges his gun, killing Vinz. 

Hubert and the officer enter a [[Mexican standoff]], with each pointing a gun at the other. During the standoff, Hubert, in voiceover, tells a story with the image of a man falling from a building, assuring himself that everything is fine, as a [[metaphor]] for society's decline. {{lang|fr|Saïd|italic=no}} closes his eyes, and a gunshot is heard. The outcome is not revealed.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Vincent Cassel]] as Vinz
* [[Hubert Koundé]] as Hubert
* [[Saïd Taghmaoui]] as Saïd
* [[Marc Duret]] as Inspector Notre Dame
* [[Benoît Magimel]] as Benoît
* Abdel Ahmed Ghili as Abdel
* [[François Levantal]] as Astérix (named Snoopy in some English editions)
* [[Andrée Damant]] as the concierge
* [[Philippe Nahon]] as police chief
* [[Zinedine Soualem]] as plainclothes police officer
* [[Vincent Lindon]] as drunk guy
* [[Karin Viard]] as gallery girl
* [[Peter Kassovitz]] as gallery patron
* Anthony Souter as skinhead
* [[Mathieu Kassovitz]] as captured skinhead
}}

==Production==
Kassovitz has said that the idea came to him when a young [[Zaire|Zairian]], {{lang|fr|[[:fr:Affaire Makomé M'Bowolé|Makomé M'Bowolé]]|italic=no}}, was shot in 1993. He was killed at point blank range while in police custody and handcuffed to a radiator. The officer was reported to have been angered by {{lang|fr|M'Bowolé|italic=no}}'s words, and had been threatening him when the gun went off accidentally.<ref>{{cite journal |first=Kevin |last=Elstob |title=''Hate'' (''La Haine'') review |journal=[[Film Quarterly]] |volume=51 |issue=2 |date=1 December 1997 |pages=44–49 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |location=Berkeley, California |doi=10.2307/3697140 |issn=0015-1386 |jstor=3697140 }}</ref> Kassovitz began writing the script on 6 April 1993, the day {{lang|fr|M'Bowolé|italic=no}} was shot. He was also inspired by the case of {{lang|fr|[[Malik Oussekine]]|italic=no}}, a 22-year-old student protester who died after being badly beaten by the riot police after a mass demonstration in 1986, in which he did not take part.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/30/international/europe/30smashers.html?_r=0 |work=[[The New York Times]] |first=Elaine |last=Sciolino |author-link=Elaine Sciolino |title=Violent Youths Threaten to Hijack Demonstrations in Paris |date=30 March 2006 }}</ref> {{lang|fr|Oussekine}}'s death is also referred to in the opening montage of the film.<ref name="criterion.com">{{cite web |last=Vincendeau |first=Ginette |date=8 May 2012 |title=''La haine'' and after: Arts, Politics, and the Banlieue |url=http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/642-la-haine-and-after-arts-politics-and-the-banlieue|website=[[The Criterion Collection]]}}</ref> {{lang|fr|Mathieu Kassovitz|italic=no}} included his own experiences; he took part in riots, he acts in a number of scenes and includes his father [[Peter Kassovitz|Peter]] in another.

The majority of the filming was done in the Parisian suburb of {{lang|fr|[[Chanteloup-les-Vignes]]|italic=no}}. Unstaged footage was used for this film, taken from 1986 to 1995; riots still took place during the time of filming. To actually film in the {{lang|fr|banlieues}}, Kassovitz, the production team and the actors, moved there for three months prior to the shooting as well as during actual filming.<ref name="dvdbeaver1">{{cite web |last=Tooze |first=Gary |title=La Haine |url=http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdreviews5/hate.htm |date=2005 |access-date=12 December 2011 |website=DVD Beaver }}</ref> Due to the film's controversial subject matter, seven or eight local French councils refused to allow the film crew to film on their territory. Kassovitz was forced to temporarily rename the script {{lang|fr|Droit de Cité}}.<ref name="independent.co.uk">{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/why-the-prime-minister-had-to-see-la-haine-1578297.html |work=[[The Independent]] |first=Sheila |last=Johnston |title=Why the prime minister had to see ''La Haine'' |date=19 October 1995 }}</ref> Some of the actors were not professionals and the film includes many situations that were based on real events.<ref name="dvdbeaver1"/>

The music of the film was handled by French [[hardcore rap]] group [[Assassin (group)|Assassin]], whose song "{{lang|fr|Nique la Police}}" (translated as "Fuck the Police") was featured in one of the scenes of the film{{Citation needed |reason=unsure, but possible confusion with the song "La Haine", by DJ Cut Killer (not Assassin) |date=May 2021 }}. One of the members of Assassin, [[Rockin' Squat|Mathias "Rockin' Squat" Crochon]], is the brother of {{lang|fr|Vincent Cassel|italic=no}}, who plays Vinz in the film.<ref name="criterion.com"/>

The film is dedicated to those who died while it was being made.

==Reception==
Upon its release, ''La Haine'' received widespread critical acclaim and was well received in France and abroad. The film was shown at the [[1995 Cannes Film Festival]] where it enjoyed a standing ovation. Kassovitz was awarded the Best Director prize at the festival.<ref name="criterion.com"/> The film opened at [[List of 1995 box office number-one films in France|number one at the French box office]] with a gross of 12.5 million Francs for the week.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|page=12|date=12 June 1995|title=International box office|quote=$2,557,982; $1=4.9FF}}</ref> It was number one for four consecutive weeks. The film had a total of 2,042,070 admissions in France where it was the 14th highest-grossing film of the year.<ref name="JPBox Office" />

On the [[review aggregator]] website [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 73 reviews, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Hard-hitting and breathtakingly effective, ''La Haine'' takes an uncompromising look at long-festering social and economic divisions affecting 1990s Paris."<ref>{{cite web|title=La Haine (1996)|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/la_haine/|website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]]|access-date=20 July 2023}}</ref> Kevin Thomas of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' called the film "raw, vital and captivating".<ref>{{cite news|title=Compelling, Bleak Look at 'Hate'|first=Kevin|last=Thomas|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-03-08-ca-44396-story.html|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=8 March 1996|access-date=7 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107124207/http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-08/entertainment/ca-44396_1_mathieu-kassovitz|archive-date=7 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Wendy Ide of ''[[The Times]]'' stated that ''La Haine'' is "[o]ne of the most blisteringly effective pieces of urban cinema ever made."<ref>{{cite news|title=La Haine|first=Wendy|last=Ide|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article471243.ece|newspaper=[[The Times]]|date=19 August 2004|access-date=7 July 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20240525100345/https://www.webcitation.org/5zzKyBCst?url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article471243.ece|archive-date=25 May 2024|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After the film was well received upon its release in France, [[Alain Juppé]], who was Prime Minister of France at the time, commissioned a special screening of the film for the cabinet, which ministers were required to attend. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said that, despite resenting some of the anti-police themes present in the film, Juppé found ''La Haine'' to be "a beautiful work of cinematographic art that can make us more aware of certain realities."<ref name="independent.co.uk"/>

It was ranked number 32 in ''[[Empire (film magazine)|Empire]]'' magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010.<ref>{{cite web |year=2010 |title=The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema {{!}} 32. La Haine |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202090911/http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/default.asp?film=32 |archive-date=2 December 2011 |access-date=7 July 2011 |work=[[Empire (magazine)|Empire]]}}</ref>

==Accolades==
* [[Best Director Award (Cannes Film Festival)|Best Director]] ([[1995 Cannes Film Festival]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3379/year/1995.html|title=Festival de Cannes: La Haine|access-date=4 September 2009|work=[[Cannes Film Festival|Festival de Cannes]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308192600/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3379/year/1995.html|archive-date=8 March 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>
* Best Editing ([[César Awards]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]] and Scott Stevenson
*Best Film ([[César Awards]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]
* Best Producer ([[César Awards]]) – Christophe Rossignon
* Best Young Film ([[European Film Awards]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]
* Best Foreign Language Film ([[Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards]])
* [[Lumière Award for Best Director|Best Director]] ([[Lumière Awards]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]
* [[Lumière Award for Best Film|Best Film]] ([[Lumière Awards]]) – [[Mathieu Kassovitz]]

==Home media==
''La Haine'' was available on VHS in the United States, but was not released on DVD until [[The Criterion Collection]] released a two-disc edition in 2007. Both [[HD DVD]] and [[Blu-ray Disc|Blu-ray]] versions have also been released in Europe, and Criterion released the film on Blu-ray in May 2012. The release includes audio commentary by Kassovitz, an introduction by actress [[Jodie Foster]], "Ten Years of ''La Haine''", a documentary that brings together cast and crew a decade after the film's landmark release, a featurette on the film's banlieue setting, production footage, and deleted and extended scenes, each with an afterword by Kassovitz.<ref>{{cite web|title=La haine|url=http://www.criterion.com/films/216-la-haine|publisher=[[The Criterion Collection]]}}</ref>

''La Haine'' was also released in 4K Blu-ray format by Criterion on 2{{nbsp}}April 2024.

==See also==
{{Portal|Film}}
* [[Les Misérables (2019 film)|''Les Misérables'' (2019 film)]], a film with a similar theme and setting
* [[List of French-language films]]
* [[List of hood films]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0113247}}
* {{tcmdb title|id=443232}}
* {{Mojo title|hate}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|la_haine}}
* [http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/642-la-haine-and-after-arts-politics-and-the-banlieue ''La haine and after: Arts, Politics, and the Banlieue''] – an essay by [[Ginette Vincendeau]] at [[The Criterion Collection]]

{{Mathieu Kassovitz}}
{{César Award for Best Film}}
{{European Film Award for Discovery of the Year}}
{{Lumière Award for Best Film}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haine}}
[[Category:1995 films]]
[[Category:1995 crime drama films]]
[[Category:1995 independent films]]
[[Category:1990s French-language films]]
[[Category:Best Film César Award winners]]
[[Category:Best Film Lumières Award winners]]
[[Category:European Film Awards winners (films)]]
[[Category:Films about police brutality]]
[[Category:Films about police misconduct]]
[[Category:Films about racism in France]]
[[Category:Films directed by Mathieu Kassovitz]]
[[Category:Films set in Paris]]
[[Category:Films shot in Paris]]
[[Category:Films whose director won the Best Director Lumières Award]]
[[Category:French black-and-white films]]
[[Category:French crime drama films]]
[[Category:French independent films]]
[[Category:French neo-noir films]]
[[Category:1990s hood films]]
[[Category:StudioCanal films]]
[[Category:1990s French films]]
[[Category:Films set in Île-de-France]]
[[Category:French-language crime drama films]]