Police
representation in La Haine
La Haine, changed the way I view films. This film is a perfect
example that enables us to see that, films are in fact more than just pretty pictures, and
the film medium is a powerful tool that can be used to change our world. The
film provokes its audiences to feel something, the film entertains us through
its satire, but it’s not a film you watch to be simply entertained, you watch
this film and you get the urge to change the world, stand up, and fight for
your rights. When I first encountered this film, I was amazed, frustrated and
saddened at the same time. Throughout watching this film, I felt a sense of
real world issues, the film itself is filmed in a documentary style; it uses
real life footage in the opening credits. In my opinion everything about this
film is perfect. Marley’s music complements the French culture, who feels oppressed,
lost and pushed to their extremes. In my opinion, the film is ageless; it
tackles issues that somehow always seem relevant. This makes me wonder, how we
should feel about this. It’s been over two decades since the film was released,
but yet nothing has changed, perhaps the world has evolved, but we are still
faced with the same horrendous issues. From a sociological point of view, the
film is a masterpiece, through its astonishing cinematography, use of dialogue
and sound it creates a haunting tale, a tale about three young guys, three
trouble makers. However, those three troubles makers represent more than we
think. Each one of them is us, each bullet piercing their bodies goes through
us, not directly, but metaphorically.
The beginning of the film, instantly shows the audience the
division between the good (police) and the bad (rioters).The opening sequence,
shows large crowds; who are full of rage and at this point, the audience are
likely to question why are these people so angry, also police are
representatives of law, therefore people should feel safe.
The music, that accompanies
the opening sequence highlights police as brutal, as we hear things such as
‘uniforms of brutality’, this allows the audience to pick up on the fact that,
in this film the police are the bad guys. The audience, are also able to see an
armed police officer, dragging someone across the street, and although the
audience may be aware that police must do their job, they are able to see that
perhaps, the police is overusing its power. The audience are also able to see
many hateful posters, which are aimed to show how the police is seen by the
oppressed underclass. The opening sequence introduces the audience to the
‘real’ world, where there is a huge division between police and the rest of the
society, the audience can see that the police is always stood opposite the
rioters, and this suggests that although, they are all French citizens they are
not equal. This can also cause the underclass to feel alienated from society.
The police is shown as very powerful, the audience always see
them in large groups. When Said is shown for the first time, the audience see
him stood opposite a crowd of police officers, when the camera zooms in; the
audience can see that the police officers all look similar. None of the police
officers are smiling, and it is clear that they want people to be scared of them;
this suggests to the audience that the police are not interested in keeping
people safe, but they use this as an excuse to gain a status. The audience then
see Said, writing a hateful message on the police van, this gives the audience
an idea of what they can expect from the three main protagonists. It is
possible to argue that, the media is trying to brainwash people; as the
audience get to see things from two different perspectives, when the riots are
mentioned in the news, the main topic that is spoken about is injured police
officers. The rioters are shows in a negative light, however, when the audience
see things from the protagonist’s perspective, they are able to see that in
fact, the rioters suffer more and although they seem to be hateful they are
fighting for their rights. This allows the audience to compare the societal
reaction to the rioters, and the police because in the news the police are
shown as heroes, but in reality they are the bad guys. Throughout the film, the
audience are able to pick up the negativity felt towards the police; as they
are referred to as ‘pigs’ by most of the underclass. In one of the scenes, Vinz
refuses to shake hands with a police officer because ‘he doesn’t shake hands
with pigs’, this shows the audience that, perhaps the underclass have been
conditioned to hate the police, because the police officer actually helped
Vinz, Said and Hubert so they should be grateful; however due to the inequality
within society people are made to believe that all police officers are bad.
Most of the police officers shown in this film are white,
French, middle class men. They all seem to be targeting the youths, as they
suspect everyone to be a criminal. However, the Arab police officer, who helped
the trio, suggests that not all police officers are bad. The audience can see,
that he is treating people with mutual respect because he, himself was most
likely treaded with inequality due to his origins. Although, the overview of
the film is showing the police in a very negative way, there is still ‘hope’
because police officers, who once experienced poverty, are more likely to treat
people equally. The film, raises the issue of misrepresentation of people in
the media, as whenever the trio see police acting nice they are somehow shocked.
In one of the scenes, they are called ‘sir’ by a police officer, and they find
it hard to believe that for the first time, they have been shown respect by a
police officer. The stolen police gun plays a significant role in the film, as
it suggests to the audience that the police are the cause of the riots. We can
suspect, that the police officer must have been irresponsible and didn’t do his
job properly, and that’s why the gun was stolen. It is possible to argue, that
the police are bad role models because they carry weapons, and this can make
people feel like they can use guns as well because that’s how problems are
dealt with in today’s world.
One of the most significant scenes in this film is when Said
and Hubert are captured by the police, and later on they are tortured. This scene
shows the audience what really goes on behind the closed doors. It can be found
as shocking, to see agents of law acting so brutally towards other people. This
also highlights the fact that perhaps, police cause the hatred because this
allows them to take their anger out on innocent people as they are not equally
human as them, simply because they are poor. This scene shows that younger
police officers are more reluctant to use violence against the underclass, but
the older, more experienced officers are their role models. This suggests that,
not all police officers start off as being bad, but they simply take on the
role and just get lost in the power they behold. The police officers, are
behaving in an animalistic way, one of them even says that the hardest part is stopping;
this shows the audience that the uniform changes people so much that they
forget how to be a human. The film, offers the audience an explanation to why
the riots happened, as the audience get a close insight of the division between
the police and underclass.
The narrative of the film, reveals to the audience that people
are made to hate other people, and because of the media, people feel the need
to be aggressive. Towards the ending of the film, the audience can see that the
hatred is getting out of control, as the only thing that drives Vinz, is to
kill a pig as this will set him ‘free’. The film is so successful, because it
really shows the ‘real’ lives of people, and many people can relate to the
three main protagonists. The ending of the film is shocking, but somehow, the
audience could suspect what was going to happen as there was a war between the
police and the underclass, therefore it was just a matter of time to see who
wins. The film shows that the police shouldn’t be treated any differently, they
are even more brutal in their actions but compared to normal, working class
people they can justify their animalistic behaviour, by stating that they had
to behave in such a way because this is what their job requires them to do.
Often, police are glorified in the media as they are always the heroes, but La
Haine, reveals the shocking truth that is hidden away from the society. The
ending of the film, reveals how irresponsible police really are as Said and
Vinz were stopped for no reason, in fact the audience may even feel that Vinz
has changed because he gave the stolen gun to Hubert and he no longer feels the
need for revenged. Although, the police officer didn’t intentionally kill Vinz,
the shooting foreshadows where society is going, as the brutality of the police
is having a major impact on the oppressed people and one thing leads to another
bad thing. It is heart-breaking to see Hubert, who seemed to be the most
rational out of the three, to take justice into his own hands because he simply
had enough.
In conclusion, the film offers the audience a clear picture
of how society is structured. The audience see the clear division between
classes and police, there is constant rivalry between groups. The film reveals
that often, society trusts the wrong people as the ones who are here to protect
us are the ones killing us.
Anna Gaszkowska
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