The prison epic genre has a welcome new addition with the tremendous French film A Prophet.
French Muslim teenager Malik (Tahar Rahim) must endure a six-year prison sentence for a vague, petty crime. A middle school dropout, he’s illiterate but maintains a raw, undeveloped cleverness. His ethnic makeup makes him a “straddler” between the jail’s two warring mafias: the Corsicans and the Muslims. Malik quickly proves himself to Corsican mob boss and inmate-for-life Cesar (Niels Arestrup) by killing fellow Muslim Reyeb (Hichem Yacoubi), whose ghost haunts Malik for the remainder of his jail time. Malik quickly rises in Cesar’s ranks, doing the boss’ dirty errands on day-long prison leaves, while simultaneously maintaining relationships with the Muslims. On the outside, Malik starts his own drug trafficking with the cancer-ridden former inmate Ryad (Adel Bencherif).
Director and co-writer Jacques Audiard paints a powerful portrait of prison life. He lends incredible visuals to each of his many multi-dimensional side narratives, knowing when to let his camera go free and when to keep it confined. Audiard captures the limitations of Cesar’s existence through a reflection of the window on Cesar’s television screen, layering two forms of escapism upon each other. Eerie lighting lends atmosphere to Malik’s often therapeutic talks with Reyeb’s ghost. Especially affecting are the sequences in which Reyeb’s ghost is aflame.
Watching Malik rise in power education and pure machismo—including a stunning automobile assassination in the streets of Paris—is supremely satisfying to witness. The nearly unknown Rahim makes a similar ascent, striking a powerful introduction to global cinema with a startling and nuanced performance. Veteran actor Arestrup initially instills Cesar with intimidating authority and later on captures the hopelessness of his dwindling power.
Nominated for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars, A Prophet deftly weaves together issues of crime, race and control, producing a captivating cinematic experience.
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