A Phrophet: Review

A Prophet
Directed by Jacques Audiard
Starring: Tahar Rahim and Neils Arestrup

Seeing a film as well made as this one, after seeing other great foreign films at the Bloor, makes one think: do Europeans simply make better films than the Americans do, or better films than the three English Canadian films that get made nearly every year? Well, the answer might simply be—yes. However, it may be that we really only see the best of the best of European cinema here in Canada. It’s not like they send over their versions of Gunless or Marmaduke, or even worse, The Hurt Locker (just slightly kidding). I mean they make hundreds of films a year, but we only see their best, right? But when I think of their top films: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, A Prophet, The Secret in their Eyes, The White Ribbon, Broken Embraces, Bliss, Revanche, and a number of other foreign films experienced at the Bloor this year and I put it up against Hollywood’s best: District 9, Avatar, Up in the Air, A Serious Man, The Shite Locker, I think, maybe they are better. Europeans just seem to make films for adults, while Hollywood (generally) makes films for focus groups.

Well fuck the focus groups, here comes A Prophet.

Mixing surreal metaphors with nearly documentary style realism produces a profound combination of artistry and brutality, whimsy and suffering, innocence and experience—Blake would be proud.

Tahar Rahim plays Malik El Djebena, a young thug who’s just old enough to get thrown in a real prison as opposed to the juvies he’s spent most of his childhood in. He’s caught in between several worlds: too old for juvie, too young for prison, he’s French, but he’s also an Arab, he’s a young man trying to be invisible, but he immediately gets targeted to become an executioner or become the condemned himself. Rahim captures the relative innocence and terror of the young prisoner, but where the actor truly shines is as the film progresses and we see him age, not with make-up, but in the subtle way he carries himself. It’s a gradual process that is superbly done.

The acting throughout the film is excellent and the prison scenes (nearly the entire film) are extremely realistic, with the director using many ex-cons as advisors and extras to give his film the honest grit required. But it’s the other worldly moments that flesh out the movie’s themes. In A Phrophet, we have a friendlier version of Hamlet’s ghost that reminds our protagonist of his horrible deed, but also keeps him company and supplies insights into connecting with God. Malik then has a prophetic, eerily beautiful dream of deer that are running through the night. They represent the freedom he longs for but they are also being hunted down. An appropriate, contradictory allegory that suits a film where the world gets turned upside down; where the weak and inconsequential become the sharpest and the strongest; where heavenly visions lead to brutal murder; and where love for your godchild is more compelling and important than your new status as a crime lord.

Point of interest: There are rumours that there may be a sequel to A Prophet, which is something we should all hope for. Excellent ground work has been laid providing us with fascinating characters and a story that just seems to be beginning.