La Haine (1995)

The film, La Haine, was created in 1995. The story takes place in a french suburban ghetto. This type of environment is suppose to show how the other half lives. I was unaware that France even had these ghettos. Usually, for me, when I think of France I think of the Eiffel Tower, The Arch de Triomphe and other well known landmarks like those.  Therefore, I guess that I am a stereotypical person who only knows the well known French landmarks. The opening scene is very interesting because it is able to establish what is going on, basically the director is able to provide backstory without making it boring and cliché. Then he is able to jump right into the story. The director, Mathieu Kassovitz, aside from telling a riveting story, is able to give audiences all around the world, even in France, an idea of what it is like for immigrants living in the projects and how they spend their lives. The director leaves many questions up to the audience. He does not give any backstory to any of the characters but instead by just using their names the viewers can assume that they are immigrants who came to France. Every time a scene ended a simple 24-hour clock appeared on the screen(White text over black background). This is a simple but effective of showing a passage of time without having go to too much trouble. The use of black and white instead of color was a simple but affective way to portray the harsh shadows of the characters and how they have all had difficult lives. If the film would have been in color it would have been less effective because it would have shown a lot more detail which would have not given out the same message of the idea of being poor and having to walk around the streets and be treated as someone who was "unlike" anyone else. The director really wanted the audience to understand the way immigrants who live in the projects live their lives and I believe that he has done that very effectively.

Source: mylifenarrated