Release Date: 02/10/2010 (Limited)
A Prophet, written and directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, is a foreign mafia prison drama that develops into a finely tuned character study. It can be compared to last year’s foreign film Gomorrah or even at some times The Godfather, as it follows a new young innocent Arab prisoner who climbs the ranks of a Corsican gang. The film has a slow pace but if you stay with it for the long haul you will be very pleased, as this is one of the better foreign films I have seen in recent years. It is powerful and at times very hard to watch, as it mixes some artsy filmmaking with gritty hardcore drama.
Set largely within French prison walls and featuring an almost exclusively male and non-professional cast, the film details the prison career of Malik el Djebena (newcomer, Tahar Rahim), a 19-year-old man of North African origin but estranged from the Muslim community. Malik is sentenced to six years and is chosen by Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), feared kingpin of the prisons reigning Corsican gang, to kill a prisoner named Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi) who initially offers Malik drugs in exchange for sex. Malik commits the bloody murder, and thanks to Luciani’s near-total control of the prisons internal workings, he gets off scot-free. This makes him a lieutenant in the prisons Corsican gang, initially entrusted only with tedious duties and laughed at as an Arab outsider.
There are two very intense scenes in this film that put it over the top for me. One at the very beginning where the main character, wonderfully played by Rahim, pulls a blade from his mouth and attacks an unsuspecting prisoner. And one at the end when Malik has developed into a true mafia boss that is so suspenseful that you will be sure to be on the edge of your seat. Both scenes are beautifully crafted and end in bloodshed. This film instantly makes me want to go out and see anything by this director, apparently Audiard is a master of foreign cinema, and he could have an Best foreign film frontrunner with this powerful film.
The performances are a major reason this film works. The director got amazing work from his lead actor Rahim. He portrays the young innocent prisoner who at first fears for his life, then slowly develops into a deadly man who fights for his life. The other performance that makes this film stand out is the old, terrifying, and at sometimes lonely don César Luciani played by Arestrup who could have had some potential in getting an Oscar nomination if foreign films held more weight nowadays. I have a feeling this film will easily win the Oscar for best foreign film, but then again that’s what I thought about Waltz with Bashir last year and that was upset by Departures in the end.
So, if you have the patience to get through a slow well-crafted artsy prison drama, then give this movie a chance. It will be well reviewed and should be the front-runner going into the Oscar months. What’s better then a great prison film, a great mafia prison film. My prophecy is…. A Prophet wins the Oscar.
But for now let’s just stamp it….MADE!!!
IMDB: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
Moviewiseguys: 8.5/10
