How you fall doesn't matter, it's how you land | Video Essay

[@ifoundpeaceindrowning8030]

La Haine is, to this day, one of the most visceral movies I have ever watched. Everything about it induces anxiety

[@Cinematographs_]

Agreed. I rewatched it a few more times to make this video, and I was surprised by how the ending still felt like it had a punch, even though I knew it was going to happen.

[@veila0924]

Watch "Cidade de Deus," you won't regret it!

[@uniquechannelnames]

That DJ crane scene is one of THE dopest shots of all time. This movie is pure gold, especially if you can pick up the French

[@Kami-nq7lf]

saw La Haine for the first time ever today and ive been thinking about it the entire day. the message is so powerful cause its something i can relate to on a personal level. i loved your video essay, it helped me understand this story a whole lot more. thank u

[@tps3269]

Great video, I haven't seen many people talking about this movie. It's one of my favourites and I keep recommending it to almost everyone I meet.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@tps3269 Thank you!! I’m surprised to not hear a lot about it, especially because I think it’s one of those films that’s easy to get into, even if you’re not a consistent film enjoyer.

[@zan3zan344]

Besides Vinz being white, he's also Jewish. In France, Jewish people have historically been disenfranchised and discriminated against. Also, this is an amazing video! I love this movie so much!

[@Cinematographs_]

Thank you and yes, I feel as if Kassovitz really tried to encompass all the different marginalized groups in the banlieues through the kids!

[@spacetoastjam7656]

@@Cinematographs_ i loved the video it did a great job at highlighting the films best narrative qualities. But i feel like leaving Vinz's heritage out was a huge missed opportunity. Vinz does not breed for the system because of the treatment towards his friends. He does it out of fear, when Germany invaded North of France they were one of the first minorities that were targeted with the help of the French goverment. Fear can breed hate and fear is what drives Vinz's actions in the movie but he hides it under this mask of machismo (the mirror scne comes to mind). Still a great analysis overall of a great movie.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@spacetoastjam7656 I actually originally planned on talking about Vinz being Jewish and his "gangster" facade, but I cut it out! I was worried the video would get too long, and I was struggling with the organization of it once I added the part about Vinz seeing the treatment of his friends. The reason I chose to comment on this in lieu of Vinz being Jewish is because I watched Kassovitz's commentary on the film, and he mentioned that Said and Hubert do not need to be hateful because of how they experience racism in their day to day life, but because Vinz doesn't and has to see it through the lens of his friends, he creates his own hate. I found this to be an interesting point that connected better with the articles I talked about stating that police officers in France performed checks on Black and Arab men a lot more than white men, and it was also consistent with how the police didn't immediately think Vinz was "with" Said and Hubert when they're outside that apartment in France getting arrested (this was something Kassovitz noted as well). At the same time, I do think both things are true at once! Kassovitz also mentions in the commentary how Vinz has to hide behind his hate, and he specifically made him Jewish to show how everyone experienced problems in the banlieues. In hindsight, I should've mentioned Vinz being Jewish when I talk about him having experienced discrimination for being from the banlieues, despite being white, in order to clarify things more! But yes, I definitely do agree about fear being another factor in creating hate-I had notes about the little things he exhibited that showed he was scared, such as flinching when Hubert messed around with him in this one scene. As I think about it more, it was a missed opportunity and I could've talked about it somewhere in the video, but I wasn't fully sure about where to write it in at the time!

[@nicolasmassoulier6116]

@@spacetoastjam7656 “with the help of the French government” YES. It must be said that the nazi made the market quite simple: either you help us, or tomorrow you have a Gauleteir, a hundred times more wicked. Most surviving Jews recognized that Vichy was certainly full of bastards, but that by avoiding the Gauleiter we gave those sickened by the occupation a chance to help Jews and other "undesirables" as much as possible in the regime This country - I forget the name - where the king acted nobly by wearing the yellow star had many more of its Jews killed than in France which is the occupied country which saved the most of its Jews. The great historian Raul Hilbeerg wrote that France was the country which, given the circumstances, had fared the best. It's not a nice story, and i am by no means proud of it, but sometimes (most on the times?) réality is no héroic.

[@dechet3204]

It provides a necessary context for understanding the social issues of the past and present. I am one of those guys who was born in the "banlieues" and I think that, like many people, I have witnessed (and inherited) these scenes of constant tension between the power of the police, who legally cover themselves, and the youth, whose Haine towards them grows. Obviously, Kassovitz's film lacks a lot of information, but the desire to portray people growing inside this chaos in their complexities and emotions is perfectly represented in your video, well done ! +1 sub (hope my english was not completely dogshit btw)

[@Cinematographs_]

I’m glad to see you feel like the film has captured that environment (at least at its core), and it’s also cool to hear your perspective on it as one of the people from the banlieues! I always found it interesting how Kassovitz had this cause-effect relationship and ongoing conflict for both sides in the film. Though I didn’t fully know everything the first time I watched before I researched it, so I agree with you that there is a lack of information/context for these events. (And your English is also great, as the other commenter said)

[@Cinematographs_]

@@shiven513 Agreed! I think the sense of normalcy (no matter how dark that normal is) in the kids’ lives really pushes that narrative the film wanted to achieve.

[@PlanofBattle]

Incisive and eloquent study of one of the 90s truly great movies. This is a marvellous essay with exceptional articulation of ideas and analysis.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@PlanofBattle Thank you!!

[@nickhtk6285]

I enjoy that choosing to film in black and white gives it a timeless feel. Plus que ca change.

[@MrNaimaad]

Amazing video and analysis, will be looking forward to more

[@Cinematographs_]

@@MrNaimaad thank you!!

[@dipenchavda6988]

Your review of this movie is amazing.

[@Sovereignty2112]

For some reason, your video popped up in my recommended. I will admit I won't be finishing this one as I plan to watch it, but I took a look through your channel and I am amazed that you don't have more views or subs. You speak with such knowledge and passion, specifically I liked your reviews on the Beekeeper and The Killer (watched those because I had seen the films) and then your Month of Kurosawa video was really enjoyable! I was surprised when you said you only started getting into film a year ago, you already have an understanding of these works. Best of luck in future videos, and I hope to see the next one very soon :)

[@Cinematographs_]

@@Sovereignty2112 this comment made my day! I’m very happy to see that you enjoy my content and love for film! I didn’t get into it until recently, but I’ve been trying my best to study some of the classics and am aiming to work in the industry later on. Thank you for the support!

[@Domn879]

Vincent Cassell has been in this, Black Swan and Irreversible. Damn son, time for a buddy comedy.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@Domn879 really need to see him kill it in a Wes Anderson movie or something!

[@jelle1265]

This is a really good video!

[@Cinematographs_]

Ahhh thank you!!

[@jedwing]

this reminds me of the style in Do The Right Thing.

[@hadinasrallah8928]

Absolutely perfect movie

[@ParkerStClair-no4jz]

oui

[@Cinematographs_]

Definitely one of my favorites from France, and I think it’s in my top 10 overall!

[@hadinasrallah8928]

@@Cinematographs_ it’s definitely in my top 10

[@aleksandars9254]

Amazing video. Im glad to be on for the ride this early.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@aleksandars9254 Thank you, that means a lot 😊

[@aleksandars9254]

@@Cinematographs_ you got it fam. Looking forward for many more

[@deathmagneto-soy]

Jusqu'ici, tout va bien. Jusqu'ici, tout va bien. Jusqu'ici, tout va bien. Phenomenal film.

[@afarbasquiat7368]

this video is amazing, subscribed and look foward to more, on the battle of the algiers maybe ?

[@Cinematographs_]

I’ve actually been meaning to watch that one for a while-good suggestion, I’ll probably do a deep dive into it and make a video some time in the future!

[@nicolasmassoulier6116]

Coming across an American media out let by chance on a subject dealing with France, I was surprised to hear from the start that "France has a long history of police brutality and mistreatment of its minorities". Ah good. And it’s an American who tells us that? However, I do not remember a KKK in my country nor that Lynch's law was viewed with sympathy. And the girl who tells us this comes from a country that has the absolute record for citizens killed by their cops. But apart from this shame, the only man killed by the French police in the last fifty years during a demonstration is Malek Oussekine. No one took this lightly. Even people on the right (not the extreme) were furious: this guy had just gone to see it as a tourist, he was a good kid, France took it very badly. And that's it. Clement Meric was killed by skinheads, not the police. So much for France's "long history of police violence". Go look at the stats of other countries and you'll see if we have anything to be ashamed of! But perhaps we are referring here to the fate of Adama Traoré, who died as a result of his race after fleeing the police (for the 7th or 8th time, he was a subscriber to the police station like almost his entire family - except his sister! - from a very young age ). As it came in the middle of the global hit "I can't breathe" and Georgy triumphed on the airwaves around the world, producers said to themselves that there was something to be done in France And then the sister (who will end up doing advertising for Louboutim. Corpses pay off), the sister was so photogenic in her role as a black pasionaria. A new Angela Davis. The problem is that there have already been three autopsies on the remains of young Adama, one of which was carried out by a Belgian team approved by the defense (so it wasn't bad, racist France that will do the job. So racist that its comedians the most popular are black or French of Arab origin). All the autopsies have confirmed the version of the cops (blacks by the way) and that of the only witness who, for having told the truth, was threatened with dead on the phone due to thousands of calls and insults such as “negro on duty”...Yes, he was black but who care ? If he doesn fit the right narrative,he must be a true fascist). So thank you to the USA for having highlighted (and what light: worldwide) this agitator of Assa Traore. Thank you to this RESPECTABLE newspaper for pushing my country a little further to tear itself apart; to divide itself into enemy camps. Sure, Time knows who the good guys and the bad guys are, it knows where the bright future is and where the dark henchmen of reaction are. Time knows, even if it seems obvious that Time is to journalism what Emily in Paris is to a documentary on the French republic.

[@Cinematographs_]

I think there’s a presupposition that this video is my analysis of France and social issues through the lens of the film. It is not. This video is my analysis of the film through Kassovitz’s lens, which includes the social context in which it was created. This doesn’t mean that I didn’t have to do my own research outside of Kassovitz’s explanation of the situation, but the basic premises that I based my research on-related to the projects, police brutality in France, discrimination, etc-all come from Kassovitz’s own experiences and what he had to say about them. This doesn’t mean that Kassovitz is all-knowing when it comes to the topic, just that whether or not he does know isn’t the whole point of the video. I’m looking at the directorial choices he made to emphasize the themes present in the film, which are directly influenced by his views, however right or wrong they may be (and that isn’t my job to regulate). In my description, I wrote a disclaimer about that. I never pulled random numbers from one site and made the claim that France faces police brutality-this is something I saw established by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, as well as many other sources, after I’d seen Kassovitz’s commentary on the situation. Besides Oussekine, the cases I researched in France are not the same ones you mentioned. Moreover, I never once denied America’s own involvement in police brutality, nor did I ever take a haughty position when describing France’s situation as an American. I’m quite literally a part of the demographic that faces discrimination in America, and my family isn’t from America-so why would I attempt to ignore the issue by highlighting it in another country? Stating that one place has a history of police brutality doesn’t negate the significance in the other place. Nor should there ever be comparisons that downplay either country-police brutality is police brutality, and it’s not a competition. The fact that more lives were taken due to it in one country than the other doesn’t mean that one is any less important-it’s still a part of the same issue at the end of the day (which is the main point of Kassovitz’s work). If you disagree with my video because you inherently disagree with Kassovitz’s own views, then this is fair. But again, it is beside the point to claim that I’m simply an American weighing in on the issue when I’m really an American weighing in on the film. If I were to have a bold opinion on French politics, it certainly wouldn’t be in a fifteen minute KZbin video.

[@samhayat-q7b]

What a stunning breakdown of this movie, I need to watch again, thank you.

[@gabrielidusogie9189]

how did you get so good at analyzing films? I saw this film once and it reminded me of Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@gabrielidusogie9189 I took a film class for a couple of years in high school, so I got a good bit of experience taking some scenes and analyzing them! One thing I’ve noticed is that when trying to make any film-related essay, the beginning of the process is always the most painful part, but once you get past that and rewatch the films a couple more times, your points get narrowed down a lot more. That being said, I am no expert in analyzing film and still have a lot to learn! And yes, I feel like the two films are very similar stylistically and thematically, but at the same time, they both bring something unique to the table. It’s on my to-do list to watch them back to back one night!

[@gabrielidusogie9189]

@@Cinematographs_ how much research is too much? How do I make sure I'm not plagiarizing and not making my own insights?

[@Cinematographs_]

@@gabrielidusogie9189 I think it depends on how familiar you are with what you’re analyzing! When I was writing stuff that I didn’t feel like I had much direction for (Fincher’s similarity in style to Hitchcock’s), I read up on a lot of sources to kinda gain my footing of the general messages of the films I was using, and a lot of the elements that work in creating those messages. I took notes on things that stood out to me, but once I was comfortable I went ahead and watched + rewatched all the films I was using, making my own notes with specific time stamps for important scenes/moments. I remember being worried about how to balance my own analysis with other people’s analyses, but I ended up making a lot of the points myself instead of others’! In fact, I don’t think it’s ever bad to research too much! Everything just helps you gain a fuller understanding of what you’re looking at. Even for this essay, I’d say that a good half of my notes were never used/mentioned, but they did help inform me in what I should be studying when rewatching the film! Basically, a lot of research ends up being like a guide for what you explore yourself! It’s mainly when you feel ready, and when you start rewatching it’ll be a lot easier to draw connections! Either way, I’m sure it’ll come out being your voice and your analysis!

[@Cinematographs_]

If you ever feel like someone made a good point you didn’t catch, you can try exploring it further or see if that detail relates to some other detail or motif in the film! That still becomes something that you’re looking at/are able to infer.

[@aurumcaelo]

KZbin recommended me this from apnaj 💀

[@jn9218]

For a video that purports to be suggests a leevl of fluency with French politics, cultural and racial dynamics, and social situation in general, it was hard to take seriously when the title (two words) is not pronounced properly.

[@Cinematographs_]

Respectfully, I don’t claim, nor would I ever claim, to know anything about French politics. Prior to making the video, I knew very little, and I still know very little! I’m American, and I will very openly admit that means there’s a disconnect between my understanding of France’s situation and a French person’s understanding of France’s situation. I’m not trying to make any judgments of French politics. My video aims to look at what specifically Kassovitz’s judgments of these politics were, based on the film’s technical choices in relation to the social context. By doing so, I had to provide some background of the situation and racial dynamics there, because like me, there’s probably a lot of people watching this video who also had little background of these events. This background that I do provide is a grossly simplified version, because going too in-depth could take away from the overall look into Kassovitz’s directorial choices and come off as bias that I don’t feel fit in with the purpose of the video. My research wasn’t necessarily tailored to studying the pronunciation of each word, and a lot of the English-speaking videos I’ve seen mentioning the film pronounce it the same way I do. I’m not saying this makes it correct-my first language is not English, so I understand firsthand the struggle of hearing words pronounced incorrectly in a language-but I am saying that hopefully there’s an understanding that I’m not purposefully mispronouncing the words to be difficult. I’d already put in my description a disclaimer apologizing for my botched up pronunciation because I knew it wasn’t going to be perfect French-still, I don’t believe that this should take away from the credibility of what is said in the video because that ends up being counterproductive. It’s especially disheartening to hear that something I hadn’t realized was a problem negates the hard work put into making the video. I was aiming to analyze a culturally important film while stimulating interest for the social situation that led to its creation, and a lot of what I mention has also been confirmed by Kassovitz himself. That being said, I apologize for not pronouncing La Haine properly, because I really do know stuff like that can be annoying, but I hope that you were at least able to appreciate the points made here!

[@Yautah]

@@Cinematographs_ As a french person, please don't pay any mind to him. There's always one of those, doesn't matter the language. Phenomenal video btw.

[@Cinematographs_]

@@Yautah Thank you! I appreciate that.

[@jethrosutter2331]

Ew you can really smell what an entitled smartass this guy is