French director Mathieu Kassovitz came to the world's attention with urban crime drama La Haine. It also threw the spotlight on star Vincent Cassel who's since appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Ocean's Twelve along with Gallic fare like L'Appartement. But most will still associate him with this portrait of life on a Parisian housing estate, which earned a slew of awards for its "conviction and bold invention".
Spawning Hate
The centrepiece of this Ultimate Edition DVD is a two-hour documentary (on disc two) charting La Haine from inception to its reception at the Cannes Film Festival and the relevance it continues to have over a decade later. It's made up mostly of interviews, beginning with Kassovitz recalling the events that inspired the script ie, riots sparked by the murder of a young man while in police custody. Right away, the young director knew he was onto something special, noting that, "French cinema is very personal. There are few directors in France who tackle social problems."
Naturally it was almost impossible to get funding, but the rest of the crew are on hand to discuss how they were able to produce something that belied the shoestring budget. Mainly this was achieved with the decision to print the film in black and white, but cameraman Georges Diane immodestly claims, "Everyone's work was of a high standard and my work in particular was quite successful. I don't want to brag but..." For the actors it was an arduous process of learning their craft, which apparently involved smoking lots of marijuana between takes...
Later on, there's footage from Cannes where the film made its glowing debut. Looking back on those heady days, Cassel admits, "I was ill at ease. I just wanted to get away."
Paris Burns
Original colour outtakes, audition tapes and rehearsal footage make up part of the feature-length documentary, but there's more of that on disc one. The first of two behind-the-scenes featurettes sees how Kassovitz and co. set about staging a dangerous stunt (a man being knocked through a window) while the second finds the director and his leading trio squatting in a poky flat in days leading up to production. "The only way to shoot a film on an estate," says Kassovitz, "is not getting the council's permission." It appears the boys are trying to soak up the ambience, but they end up going stir crazy. In amidst the chaos, the director makes grandiose statements about the role of cinema in social reform, plus the correlation between cinema and Zippo lighters...
Thankfully Kassovitz is coherent for the audio commentary (delivered in English). He talks more about the difficulties of shooting on a low budget and how these difficulties forced him to become a better filmmaker. Aside from the camerawork, tricksy editing and monochrome aesthetic, he admits to playing the actors off against one another. "I like to play with surprises," he says, "and see how they react." He also makes it clear that, "we all wrote the script together," so everyone had license to deviate from it. Of course he also talks about the film in a wider context, stating that, "police brutality is everywhere" and explaining its global appeal in terms that "you can recognise these characters in any country."
Showing how little has changed since the film was initially released, Kassovitz includes his blog on the 2005 Paris riots in addition to an essay by Keith Reader. More of the original colour footage is presented in a six-minute reel and the CD soundtrack is thrown in too. It's a generous batch of extras, just as outspoken and provocative as the film itself. A must-have for true cinephiles.
EXTRA FEATURES
