filmbore pick of the week - A Prophet

A Prophet

Director: Jacques Audiard

Screenplay: Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard, Abdel Raouf Dafri, Nicolas Peufaillit

Starring: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb, Hichem Yacoubi

Languages: French, Arabic, Corsican

Year: 2009

UK rental release: June 2010

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With a slight link to last week's pick, Days Of Glory, here's a story of a French-Algerian teenager, disregards by mutual inhabitants due to a difference in race. Except this time it's not from the cold isolation of war, but from the chilling loneliness of prison, in the Oscar nominated A Prophet.

Nineteen year old Malik (Tahar Rahim, Le Passé, Grand Central) has just been imprisoned for six years for a minor crime. Only young, he is scared of the pending years in front of him in this alien world. His first days in jail are hard, as they always are for new inmates. He's pushed around by those more established than him, stealing his belongings and giving him beatings. He's totally alone.

Leader of the prison's Corsican mob, César (Niels Arestrup, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, The Diving Bell And The Butterfly) has a mission. A new inmate, Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi), staying with the Muslim section of the prison, is a witness and a target for César to eliminate. But he needs to get close and needs Malik's connection with this sector to get to him.

Malik's work on the Reyeb situation brings him into César's inner circle, at the behest of the Corsicans. He was illiterate when he entered the prison but as the years go by, acting as an aide to César and his crew, he educates himself as much as he can, even secretly learning Corsican to understand his peers derisive comments to his presence.

Ryad (Adel Bencherif, Point Blank, Sleepless Night) helps Malik with his schooling. The pair grow close, but the friendship will not last Malik's sentence. Due to a cancerous illness, Ryad is able to leave the jail to get better, yet stays in touch with his friend on the inside.

 

A reshuffle of the cultural groupings in prison by Nicolas Sarkozy spells trouble for César's supremacy. He will not be leaving, and with many of his subjects being relocated he has little support left. Malik is his only true ally; a hidden associate to César's slipping reign. Now as César's undercover eyes and ears, Malik is the backdoor to every corner and conversation of the prison.

As the trust between the two men evolves, Malik is entrusted even further into the Corsican world. He is given missions by César to handle on the outside, thanks to his "good behaviour" granting him leave days. During this time, Malik meets Jordi (Reda Kateb, Zero Dark Thirty, Three Worlds), a jail drug runner. Teaming up will be more profitable to the both of them. And, with Ryad on the outside, they intend to up their game and run bigger jobs...to build their own empire.

 

Oscar nominated in 2010 for Best Foreign Language film, A Prophet was a favourite next to Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon, but just missed the gong to the surprise winner from Argentina, The Secret In Their Eyes (which is also superb.... read my review here). In another year, against easier competitors, it may have taken the prize, yet it's difficult to ignore such slick cinematic presence that this feature carries with it.

Direct and rich film styles make an inviting picture, especially as the majority of it is set in such confined locations. It feels immediate, with excellent pace through it's confident editing style and the odd surprise. Some of these shock moments form in the guise of some breathtaking, if seldom, action sequences. The violence, as sporadic as it is, is incredibly visceral. If you're of the squeamish type, there'll be a few "hands-over-eyes" moments. Yet, the execution of the effects, creating genuine looking frenzied scenes grounds the film even further.

Some of this earthiness is thanks to the screenplay. It's a brilliantly written story with great word play in three languages no doubt! The rise of Malik within this tale is an intriguing one, with a blend of both luck and drive taking him a rung higher on the scale to criminal success each time.

Nearly every shot in the movie involves Tahar Rahim. He's sensational as the lead, commanding the entire movie as Malik, displaying his initial naivety to outright dominance. Rahim really owns this film. His effortless demeanour, swaying between loyalty and devious schemes, could have been executed in an exaggerated, even comic-like fashion, to many others who could have attempted to portray such a deep individual. Instead, we are blessed with the genius casting of Rahim. After watching A Prophet, you'll find it hard to see anyone else playing this role. Smooth, calm and self-deprecating, as subtle as the performance is, it's a difficult persona to capture.

  

There's a good mix of other characters at play here too, even down to some of the mob members. All play their parts with sincerity and grit, gluing the already authentic vibe with a sense of truism and substance.

Amidst all of these men, we cannot ignore Niels Arestrup either. Always a reliant actor, he is renowned for breathing a raw existence into any role, and that is as true in the form of César as any other. Simmering through most of the picture, his unpredictable outbursts are chilling. He is a cold, terrifying presence on camera, and ideal for this beguiling character. 

This portrayal of an ageing man of ardent power, who garners respect from all those around, serves to infuse this intense story of Malik; of a boy drawn uncontrollably into an overwhelming world, transforming into the man who deems to command it. Even in his first moments in jail, you sense a astuteness that surrounds him; he bears the air of a wiser man. Younger than most of his peers, he would seem envelops by them, yet instead his cautious but observing manner benefits him in the long run.

Interestingly, Malik belongs to no troupe. He is of Arabic descent, but doesn't truly know his parents. He speaks French and Arabic fluently, yet isn't tied to a religion. He is a loner, and doesn't really side with a crowd. Even when he is recruited by the Corsicans, he is never truly one of them. Incredibly, it's this "outsider" quality that gives him his strength; an opportunity to monitor, to absorb, to learn the tricks of the trade. He is a shadow to all other inmates, and his ability to blend in and understand all cultures is what feeds his growing dominance.

It's this stealthy composure and keen eye on trends that illustrates the prophecies in A Prophet. Malik doesn't see the future, but he does notice the present before anyone else. Another element of his foresight manifests itself in the form of his musings with Reyeb throughout the picture. They're spiritual touchstones emanating in touching moments where Reyeb's guidance may perceive the tiniest of actions, poetically demonstrating Malik's observational aptitude. There are other incidents, for example a key moment involving a deer, that question which of these two factions (either his keen eye on the now or an oracle in Reyeb) leads to his innate ability to foresee the next step to take. 

Whichever you perceive as his source of foretelling, these subtle portents weave their way into an already strongly produced picture carried by delicious performances and a compelling story of a man's path through crime and deceit.

It has drawn many parallels to Scarface, in its identifying the meteoric rise of a small time felon to the criminal mastermind he grows into, except where the De Palma's enjoyable character study of Tony Montana exudes style and panache, A Prophet takes it's power from its incredible rawness and firm footing in reality, generating an altogether different beast. One of integrity, honour, credibility and, prophetically, some stimulating risks. 

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