At Eternity's Gate

Directed by Julian Schnabel and written by Schnabel, Jean-Claude Carriere, and Louise Kugelberg, At Eternity’s Gate is the story about the final years of painter Vincent van Gogh. Based on theories by van Gogh biographers Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, the film dramatizes the events of van Gogh’s final years as well as his eventual death as the painter struggles to get attention and recognition for his work as van Gogh is portrayed by Willem Dafoe. Also starring Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Mathieu Almaric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Oscar Isaac, and Niels Arestrup. At Eternity’s Gate is a rapturous and riveting film from Julian Schnabel.

Set during the final two years of the life of Vincent van Gogh, the film follows the painter as he struggles to make a name for himself while wanting to express himself artistically as well as questioning himself about his art and the divine. It’s a film with a simple premise yet it doesn’t play into a straightforward approach expected in films about real figures. Instead, it is a study of a man trying to find himself through his art as he also begins to question his being and worth as an artist and as a man while he would meet various people in his journey. The film’s script by Julian Schnabel, Louise Kugelberg, and Jean-Claude Carriere follows van Gogh in that journey where he often walks around landscapes in France as he would often paint what he sees as those who would see his paintings are convinced that he’s no good. Upon meeting the artist Paul Gauguin (Oscar Isaac) in Paris as they both share their thoughts on art, van Gogh goes to Arles in the South of France to find inspiration in the landscape but is ridiculed by some locals for his aesthetics while a visit from Gauguin only adds to his emotional turmoil.

The film’s second half revolves around the events in which van Gogh had cut off his left ear as the narrative also feature voiceover narration from van Gogh through letters he would write to his brother Theo (Rupert Friend) who would fund his art. It is at this time that van Gogh would be sent to an asylum as he ponders about his art and such but also the beauty of nature and the divine. Even as he would continue to paint to the day he dies as the script also showcases the man’s delusions and episodes of mental illness as well as ideas of what might’ve happened on the day of his death.

Schnabel’s direction is definitely dream-like in some of the imagery he creates as he would also shoot the film on actual locations in Arles as well as additional locations in Bouches-du-Rhone, and Auvers-sur-Oise in France. Schnabel’s usage of the wide and medium shots add to the beauty that van Gogh was seeking but also something that is almost indescribable in trying to find the actual look of it which is why he paints fast. The attention to detail in the painting as well as what van Gogh sees adds to the beauty while some of the framing that Schnabel creates in the medium shots do match up to some of the paintings that van Gogh has created. Even in the close-ups as it help play into the sense of despair and torment that van Gogh endures with Schnabel often shooting scenes with hand-held cameras where the camera often glides or gets a point-of-view shot of van Gogh walking. The usage of the hand-held cameras would also play into the wonders of nature and the surroundings that van Gogh would encounter.

Also serving as editor with co-writer Louise Kugelberg, Schnabel’s usage of jump-cuts and dissolves add to some of the film’s emotional moments as well as play into van Gogh’s troubled mental state. Notably in scenes during the third act where van Gogh is in an asylum as it returns to the film’s opening scene where it is shown in a different context. It adds to this sense of despair and uncertainty in van Gogh where he meets a sympathetic priest (Mads Mikkelsen) who gets a look at one of his paintings and does express his opinion yet doesn’t think that van Gogh is a terrible painter. The third act also has Schnabel play into things that play into events relating to his work including a sketchbook that would be lost until 2016 and what happened to him on the day he died. Yet, Schnabel showcases a man that is driven by the beauty of his surroundings and hoping to capture it the way he and possibly God sees it. Overall, Schnabel crafts an intoxicating and enchanting film about the final years in the life of Vincent van Gogh.

Cinematographer Benoit Delhomme does incredible work with the film’s cinematography as its usage of lush colors and dream-like photography add to the films’ beauty as well as its usage of blurry lenses and some black-and-white shots that showcases the depths of van Gogh’s psyche. Production designer Stephane Cressend, with set decorators Sonia Gloaguen and Cecile Vatelot plus art director Loic Chavanon, does brilliant work with the look of the places that van Gogh would go to and stay at as well as a tavern he would frequent at and the asylum where he spent some time during his illness. Costume designer Karen Muller Serreau does fantastic work with the ragged clothes that van Gogh wears as well as some of the clothes the other characters wear.

Special makeup effects artist Jean-Christophe Spadaccini and special effects makeup designer Mark Wotton do terrific work with the look of a few characters including van Gogh after he had cut off his left ear. Visual effects supervisor Arthur Lemaitre does nice work with the visual effects as it is largely minimal in presenting van Gogh without his left ear and a few bits of set dressing. Sound editor Thomas Desjonqueres does excellent work with the film’s sound in the way it repeats lines of dialogues to play into van Gogh’s delusions as well as capturing natural sounds as it is a highlight of the film. The film’s music by Tatiana Lisovskaya is amazing for its lush and somber piano sonatas and low-key orchestral touches that play into the film’s melancholic tone as well as the sense of wonderment that van Gogh endures.

The film’s wonderful cast feature some notable small roles and appearances from Anne Consigny as a schoolteacher who is disgusted by what van Gogh is painting, Louis Garrel as the voice of an article by an art critic, Lolita Chammah as a young woman van Gogh meets at the film’s beginning, Vincent Perez as an art gallery director, Amira Casar as Theo’s wife Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Vladimir Consigny as an asylum doctor, and Niels Arestrup as a madman van Gogh converses with at the asylum about insanity. Mads Mikkelsen is superb in his one-scene performance as a priest who converses with Van Gogh about art and the divine as it is a low-key performance from Mikkelsen who provides a sense of warmth to the character. Mathieu Almaric is fantastic in his small role as Dr. Paul Gachet as a man who is a subject of one of van Gogh’s paintings as well as be someone who would be with him on the last day of van Gogh’s life.

Emmanuelle Seigner is excellent in a dual role as the woman from Arles who becomes a subject of one of Van Gogh’s paintings as she would give him a place to stay while other role as Madam Ginoux is brief as the woman who would unknowingly have van Gogh’s sketchbook and put in a place that she would forget about. Oscar Isaac is brilliant as Paul Gauguin as an artist who shares van Gogh’s ideas about aesthetics yet becomes baffled by what van Gogh is trying to find through art believing that van Gogh would never get any attention. Rupert Friend is amazing as van Gogh’s brother Theo as a man who is also funds van Gogh’s work as he becomes concerned about his brother’s emotional and mental well-being. Finally, there’s Willem Dafoe in a performance for the ages as Vincent van Gogh as this tormented artist who is trying to create art that means something while dealing with rejection, criticism, and himself as Dafoe play into this man’s struggle as well as wanting to create something that he believes is closer to what God would see as it is a towering performance from Dafoe.

At Eternity’s Gate is an outstanding film from Julian Schnabel that features a career-defining performance from Willem Dafoe as Vincent van Gogh. Along with its ensemble cast, Benoit Delhomme’s ravishing cinematography, Tatiana Lisovskaya’s somber score, and its exploration of an artist trying to create art that is divine. The film is an unconventional yet enthralling film that doesn’t play into the traditional schematics of a bio-pic in favor of studying a man trying to capture nature at its most pure. In the end, At Eternity’s Gate is a magnificent film from Julian Schnabel.

Julian Schnabel Films: Basquiat - Before Night Falls - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Lou Reed-Berlin: Live at St. Ann's Warehouse - Miral

Related: (Lust for Life) – (Vincent & Theo) – (Dreams (1990 film)) – (Loving Vincent) - The Auteurs #43: Julian Schnabel

© thevoid99 2020

Je Tu Il Elle

Written, directed and starring Chantal Akerman, Je Tu Il Elle (I You He She) is the story of a woman who goes on a road trip where she endures love affairs during her journey. The film is a study of loneliness and longing for love where a woman goes into her own journey of self-discovery through unconventional means. Also starring Niels Arestrup and Claire Wauthion. Je Tu Il Elle is an intoxicating yet rapturous film from Chantal Akerman.

The film is a study of loneliness and a woman finding herself as it is told in a minimalist fashion. All of which told in three different sequences where this woman named Julie (Chantal Akerman) deals with loneliness as the first act is about Julie in her apartment writing a letter and such. The second act takes place on the road where she meets this truck driver (Niels Arestrup) and the third is where she meets a former lover (Claire Wauthion). All of which plays into this woman trying to find herself as it is told with very little dialogue as it largely features a lot of voiceover narration from Julie’s perspective in the first act with very little said in the second and third.

Akerman’s direction definitely plays a lot to the film’s minimalist presentation as it isn’t about any striking compositions but rather the simplicity of it where much of the scenes shot in the apartment appears in a static shot where the camera would remain still as well as show the apartment from one side to another without the need to move it. The simplicity of the presentation where Akerman goes for mostly medium and wide shots in the apartment sequence as well as in the third act are very entrancing while she goes for a close-up for the scenes with the truck driver in his truck during a monologue. Shot in grainy 16mm black-and-white film, Akerman would create something that feels real but also not dwell too much into style. Yet, she would create something that plays into what Julie wants as it also says a lot about Akerman’s view on sex and sexual identity. Overall, Akerman creates a provocative yet mesmerizing film about a lonely woman’s journey of self-discovery.

Cinematographer Benedicte Delesalle does brilliant work with the film‘s black-and-white photography from the usage of shadows and light for scenes set at night in the interior scenes to the grainy look for the scenes inside the truck. Editor Luc Freche does nice work with the editing as it is largely straightforward with very little cuts in favor of long-takes with the only usage of style is in the fade-outs to structure the story. The film’s sound by Samy Szlingerbaum and Alain Pierre is fantastic for not just how natural it is but also in the editing of Julie’s narration. The performances of Claire Wauthion and Niels Arestrup in their respective roles as Julie’s girlfriend and the truck driver who each provide a sense of charm that would fascinate Julie. Chantal Akerman is amazing as Julie as a young woman dealing with loneliness and her surroundings as she befriends this truck driver and later meet a girlfriend where she copes with the journey her life has taken.

As part of the 2010 Eclipse box set series of Chantal Akerman’s work in the 1970s from the Criterion Collection, the film is presented in a 1:33:1 full-frame aspect ratio with Dolby Digital mono as the set features an essay written by film essayist Michael Koresky entitled Je Tu Il Elle: Form Follows Dysfunction. The essay discusses many of the themes in the film as well as the ideas Akerman would later hone into the films she would make in the coming years. Especially in its portrayal of women as well as their journey to find themselves in a modern world. Even in the journey that Julie would take in the people she meets as it play into who she is and what she realizes about herself as it’s a very compelling essay.

Je Tu Il Elle is a phenomenal film from Chantal Akerman. It’s a film that explores a woman’s isolation as well as yearning to connect while trying to find herself. Even as it doesn’t display any kind of cinematic conventions nor refusing to delve into elements of style. In the end, Je Tu Il Elle is an incredible film from Chantal Akerman.

Chantal Akerman Films: La Chambre - Hotel Monterey - Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles - News from Home - Les Rendez-vous d'Anna - (American Stories, Food, Family and Philosophy) - (Night and Day (1991 film)) - (A Couch in New York) - (La Captive) - (Tomorrow We Move) - (Almayer’s Folly) - (No Home Movie)

© thevoid99 2016

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Based on the memoir of Jean-Dominique Bauby, Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) is the story about the famed editor of Elle magazine who suffered a stroke at the age of 43 where he would become paralyzed as the only part of his body that moves is his left eye as he would tell his own story from that eye. Directed by Julian Schnabel and screenplay by Ronald Harwood, the film is an unconventional bio-pic as Mathieu Almaric plays the role of Bauby from the man who had a charmed life as he later succumbs to paralysis as he copes with the remaining days of his life. Also starring Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josee Croze, Anne Consigny, Isaach de Bankole, and Max von Sydow. Le scaphandre et le papillon is a majestic yet rapturous film from Julian Schnabel.

In 1995 at the age of 43 while driving with his son, Jean-Dominique Bauby suffers a stroke as he wakes up three weeks later realizing he is paralyzed as the only thing he can see and feel is from his left eye. Throughout the course of the film, Bauby would use his eye to communicate with the help of a kind nurse in Henrietta (Marie-Josee Croze) through a series of letters that are used frequently where Bauby would write his memoir with the help of an editor in Claude (Anne Consigny) as he would reflect on his own life as well as his own life with his ex-girlfriend Celine Desmoulins (Emmanuelle Seigner) and their three children. Bauby also talks about the day of his stroke and his meeting with his father (Max von Sydow) as he begins to contemplate about the days he has left in his own life.

Ronald Harwood’s screenplay definitely plays with a back-and-forth narrative structure of sorts since it is told largely from Bauby’s perspective about the life he had as well as the life he is having as a paralyzed man. Much of it would involve aspects of what Bauby did as well as his frustrations of having to live where his left eye is the only thing that is working as he thinks about sex and football. The film’s title serves as a metaphor for the life that Bauby is in as it would appear in a series of surrealistic things that are playing in his head including things that aren’t from his time as Harwood uses a lot of voice-over narration to play into Bauby and his struggles. Even as he reveals flaws into who he is as a person as he is someone that is very selfish and sleeps around with various woman as he even fantasizes about the women who are helping him. Upon knowing that he’s got a limited amount of time, the self-reflective approach to the narrative not only helps Bauby but display someone who is trying to find some kind of redemption as the script allows him to do that.

Julian Schnabel’s direction is truly mesmerizing for the way he shoots nearly half of the film from Bauby’s perspective as if the camera is playing the role of Bauby’s left eye. There’s elements of hand-held cameras with blurry edges to play into that idea that the camera is Bauby where it shows an idea of how he is feeling and how he is coping with being paralyzed. Scenes shot outside of the eye has this sense of style in the way Schnabel he shoots photo shoots as well as scenes on the beach where Bauby is surrounded by his children. The scenes involving Bauby and his father are among the most intimate and powerful to showcase this relationship that is quite unique as they’re both going through some form of illness. Schnabel’s approach to metaphoric images are entrancing as it plays to some of the surreal elements in the film yet they do make sense into what Bauby is dealing with as he is a man coping with death and aspect of his own charmed but troubled life. Even as Schnabel creates compositions and framing devices to play into the man’s final days as it showcases the kind of life that Bauby had and how he refused to die without making some kind of difference. Overall, Schnabel creates a very enthralling yet intoxicating film about a man dealing with death as the only part in his body with any sense of life is his left eye.

Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski does incredible work with the film‘s cinematography from the usage of colors and lights for the scenes shot from the perspective of the eye with some scratchy blurs and images to some of the interior/exterior scenes including the use of gorgeous colors and lights for a sequence at Lourdes where Bauby is intrigued by elements of spirituality. Editor Juliette Welfing does amazing work with the editing with its usage of jump-cuts as well as creating a few montages and other stylistic cuts to play into Bauby‘s dizzying life. Production designers Michel Eric and Laurent Ott do brilliant work with the look of the hospital room and its hallways including some very mesmerizing scenes of shops at the city of Lourdes.

Costume designer Olivier Beriot does nice work with the costumes from the casual clothes of the main characters to some period clothing presented in a few surrealistic scenes in Bauby‘s head. Sound editor Francis Wargnier, with mixer Dominique Gaborieau and recordist Jean-Paul Mugel, does fantastic work with the sound to create textures into Bauby‘s narration as well as what he might be hearing in his head along with some of the atmosphere in the locations. The film’s music by Paul Cantelon is wonderful as it’s mostly low-key with its plaintive piano score to play into the different moods of the film while Schnabel supervises the film’s soundtrack that features music from the Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, U2, Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, Charles Trenet, Emmanuelle Seigner with Ultra, and the Dirtbombs.

The film’s phenomenal ensemble cast includes some notable appearances from Lenny Kravitz as himself in a photo shoot, photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Michael Wincott, Jean-Pierre Cassel in a dual role as a Lourdes vendor and a friend of Bauby, Elvis Polanski as a young Bauby, Gerard Watkins as a doctor, Marina Hands as Bauby’s Lourdes’ date Josephine, Niels Arestrup and Isaach de Bankole as friends of Bauby who visits him, Agathe de La Fontaine as his mistress Ines, Olata Lopez Garmendia as a therapist, Patrick Chenais as the doctor who would tell Bauby his condition, Emma de Caunes in a fantasy version of Empress Eugenie, and as the trio of Bauby’s children with Desmoulins, there’s Theo Sampaio, Fiorella Campanella, and Talina Boyaci. Max von Sydow is brilliant as Bauby’s father as a man who hopes for his son to go into a better path as he also copes with his own stroke.

Emmanuelle Seigner is excellent as Bauby’s ex-girlfriend Celine Desmoulins who is the mother of his three children as she reconnects with him in the wake of his illness as she provides the reasons for him to be faithful. Anne Consigny is amazing as Claude who would help Bauby write his memoir as he is intrigued by her beauty. Marie-Josee Croze is fantastic as the nurse Henriette Durand who would be the one to communicate with him through an alphabet system that she would perfect as she would help others in communicating with him. Finally, there’s Mathieu Almaric in a magnificent performance as Jean-Dominique Bauby as he brings a sense of cool and charm to the man in his prime as well as a selfishness and confusion. When he’s paralyzed, Almaric maintains a restraint to his role where he uses his own left eye to do the performance as it’s just astonishing to watch.

Le scaphandre et le papillon is an outstanding film from Julian Schnabel as it features a phenomenal performance from Mathieu Almaric as Jean-Dominique Bauby. Along with a great supporting cast, some amazing technical work from Janusz Kaminski and Juliette Welfing, Ronald Harwood’s screenplay, and a mesmerizing soundtrack. The film is definitely very unconventional in terms of its presentation as well as creating something that feels very engaging in a way a man deals with mortality. In the end, Le scaphandre et le papillon is a tremendously powerful film from Julian Schnabel.

Julian Schnabel Films: Basquiat - Before Night Falls - Berlin: Live at St. Ann’s Warehouse - Miral - At Eternity's Gate - The Auteurs #43: Julian Schnabel

© thevoid99 2014

2011 Cannes Marathon: A Prophet

(Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival)

Directed by Jacques Audiard and written by Audiard, Thomas Bidegain, Abdel Raouf Dafri, and Nicolas Peufaillit. Un prophete (A Prophet) tells the story of an illiterate 19-year old French-North African man who is sent to prison for six-years. In a world where it’s racially-divided as it’s ruled by a mob, he befriends a Muslim man who helps him while creating his own empire. The film is a part coming-of-age story and part-prison drama as a young man’s life is shaped during his time. Starring Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, and Abdel Bencherif. Un prophete is an eerie yet engrossing character-driven drama from Jacques Audiard.

19-year old Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is a young criminal whose life of misdemeanors has finally landed him in prison for six-years after assaulting a cop. Un-educated and not knowing much about the world except how to survive, he lives in a chaotic prison where a Corsican mob leader named Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup) and his henchmen rule the prison and the guards. Malik tries to survive the harsh prison as he comes across Luciani who orders him to kill a prisoner named Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi) before he would testify in court. Malik reluctantly does so with unease while it confirms the Arabs and North African population of the group who is in charge.

Malik remains haunted by what he did to Reyeb who would often appear to him as Malik befriends a Muslim named Ryad (Abdel Bencherif). Ryad would teach Malik to read and write as Malik takes classes that allowed him to learn other languages and later, economics. With Ryad as his closest friend, he also finds his way to be close to Luciani by becoming his servant. When Luciani’s men are transferred and later released, Malik eventually becomes Luciani’s closest ally while Malik makes waves of his own. Taking a strange gypsy man named Jordi (Reda Kateb) as one of his associates, Malik also makes wave with Muslim prisoners. Becoming Luciani’s most reliable ally also helped him get out of prison for brief periods to help make deals and such.

With Ryad out of prison and trying to get his life in order, he also work out on some drug deals for Malik only to get in trouble with an Egyptian gangster named Latif (Mamadou Minte). This causes problems as tension between Malik and Luciani occur while Malik gets in contact with a man who knows a crime boss named Brahim Lattrache (Sumane Dazi). Though the flight to Marseilles wasn’t easy and Lattrache not happy about meeting Malik, the two have an understanding along with information about a snitch in Luciani’s group. Malik makes a deal with Lattrache with Luciani asking his old henchman Vettori (Jean-Philippe Ricci) to go after the mob’s Don who Luciani believes is the rat. With Malik on board along with Ryad, things become complicated due to Vettori’s lack of respect towards Malik’s men along with Ryad, who is ill due to a cancer remission. Malik realizes that he has to go on board where he makes plans that would change everything.

The film is a coming-of-age story about a man’s rise in prison during a six-year stint. Yet, what is more compelling is his development as a 19-year old illiterate prisoner into a crime boss of sorts who manages to win respect. It’s also a classic rise and fall tale for another character in Luciani who starts off as this intimidating yet intelligent boss who starts off as the man ruling the prison. Yet, by the time he lets Malik get close to him with Malik learning the ropes, his own downfall would emerge. It’s these storylines that really creates a character study that is engaging from start to finish though its approach is very unconventional.

The screenplay definitely plays off Malik’s early rise as a young prisoner to porter for Luciani. Even as Malik’s development is driven by the relationships he makes in prison. Two of them in Luciani and Ryad would be bring the most impact to Malik’s life. Luciani does treat him like a servant and almost like a son to him late in the film as he realizes he is the only one in his group that is more reliable. Even in a scene as he wonders why Malik still makes coffee for him after all of these years as Malik has no answer. Then, there’s Ryad who would not only teach Malik to read and write but also give him a reason to do what is right. Even as Ryad is a cancer survivor with a family who later gets a remission in cancer. This would eventually motivate Malik to do what is right for his friend and his family.

The script is very loose with its plot since there isn’t much of a plot to begin with. Even as it slowly builds up development to let the audience understand the world Malik is in. Helming all of this is director Jacques Audiard whose direction is very engaging in letting the audience be aware of the prison world in France. Audiard definitely plays with the script’s loose style by letting scenes unfold and let things play out. While it does create scenes that are very slow and long, particularly for a film with a near two-and-a-half-hour running time. Audiard does that so he can help the audience understand what is going on during Malik’s first year for about thirty minutes into the film. Then play it all out for the rest of his time in his stay.

Audiard also creates some stylistic approaches for several scenes including some slow-motion shots in a few parts. Notably the scene where Malik goes after a crime boss that is presented with great style. Another stylistic element to the film that plays off to Malik’s own sense of guilt is the appearances of Reyeb as he’s often shown with cuts on his neck or something happening to him as he serves as a reminder of what Malik has done. Audiard’s overall direction is truly powerful as he creates a mesmerizing yet haunting prison-drama that plays with its conventional storyline and more.

Cinematographer Stephane Fontaine does an excellent job with the film‘s cinematography in creating an eerie yet claustrophobic look to the scenes inside the prison. While even adding some beauty for scenes outside of the prison including a gorgeous scene during the winter. Fontaine also succeeds in creating lush images for scenes in Marseilles and Paris to play up to Malik’s own brief tastes of freedom. Editor Juliette Welfling does a phenomenal job with the film’s editing in creating tension between characters as well as building the momentum for Malik’s development. Notably in scenes where there’s a mesh of shimmering cuts to play up to Malik’s sense of dread. Welfing’s editing is definitely the technical highlight of the film for the way it underplays the drama and its stylized approach to Malik on the job.

Production designer Michel Barthelemy, along with set decorator Boris Piot and art director Entienne Rohde, does a wonderful job with the look of the prison cells as they have a look that is very small and claustrophobic. The halls have more space and are much cleaner while other places such as Ryad’s home and places that Malik encounters reveal his taste for freedom Costume designer Virginie Montel does a good job with the costumes by most playing casual for the prisoners while the Luciani characters wears more finer clothes to display his personality.

Sound editors Stephane Rabeau and Francis Wargnier do some stellar work with the sound in playing up to the tense and chaotic atmosphere to the prison as the quieter moments even has something that is disturbing. Even as the sound work is much broader and more eerie for some of the film’s violent moments. The music by Alexandre Desplat is a real highlight of the film as it mostly plays as a haunting yet subtle accompaniment throughout the film. While he does bring in a few orchestral pieces to the film, it’s mostly in small moments as he goes for longer yet ambient-like tracks to play to Malik’s state of mind. Even as the film’s soundtrack features an array of artists ranging from Nas, Sigur Ros, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

The casting by Richard Rousseau is definitely superb with its array of people to play small and big roles. Even as the extras in the prison scenes are former convicts who helped provide a sense of realism to the film. In small but memorable performances, there are Jean-Emmanuel Pagni as a henchman of Luciani who helps Malik in how to be a porter, Mamadou Minte as the Egyptian gangster Latif, Cindy Daniel as a hooker Malik has sex with, Frederic Graziani as a detention chief, Reda Kateb as Malik’s contact man Jordi, Sumane Dazi as the crime boss Lattrache, and Leila Bekhti as Ryad’s wife Djamila whom Malik wants to help in her time of need.

Jean-Philippe Ricci is very good as Luciani’s main henchman Vettori who is never kind to Malik because of his race while proving to be very un-loyal when he had to work with Malik. Hichem Yacoubi is excellent as Reyeb, the man Malik kills early in the film only to be a ghost who offers him ways to improve himself as his appearances are truly mesmerizing. Abdel Bencherif is superb as Ryad, the man who would help Malik become the crime lord while reminding him about the fact that he needs to be a good man and do the right thing. Niels Arestrup is phenomenal as Cesar Luciani, a crime boss who has an intimidating presence while showing Malik the ropes about being a criminal as he later treats him like a son.

Finally, there’s Tahar Rahim in a magnificent performance as Malik El Djebena. Rahim brings a gritty yet charismatic performance as a young man who starts off as a quiet loner into a powerful yet take-charge kind of guy. It’s a stunning yet hypnotic performance from the young actor as he goes for it all whether its in quiet moments or being the guy in the background as he observes everything around him. Even as he is someone taking charge and looking cool in the process. This is definitely one of the great performances of 2009.

Un prophete is a brilliant yet eerie film from Jacques Audiard that features an amazing performance from Tahar Rahim. Audiences of prison dramas will no doubt enjoy this film for its character study as well as its more intimate yet engaging approach to the world of French prisons. Particularly with its idea of crime and the way things work in prisons along with how they do things on the outside. In the end, Un prophete is a mesmerizing film from Jacques Audiard.

Jacques Audiard Films: (See How They Fall) - (A Self Made Hero) - (Sur mes levres) - (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) - Rust and Bone - (Dheepan) - (The Sister Brothers) - (Paris, 13th District) - Emilia Perez

© thevoid99 2011