Director: Jacques Audiard.
Actors: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif.
Where: Curzon Renoir Cinema, London.
Image courtesy of incontention.com
Since A Prophet received the Grand Prix prize at last years Cannes Film Festival the hype around both the film itself and the performance of it’s star, Tahar Rahim, has been huge. This kind of praise can work both ways and watching films on the sun drenched Riviera after a champagne fuelled lunch in May is never the same as watching a film in Olde London Town in January.
The Renoir cinema in Bloomsbury however, provides a great setting all year round and with the sun making an appearance on this beautiful Sunday afternoon, Cannes didn’t feel all that far away.The viewer warms instantly to Rahim’s credible character and remains attached to him and understanding of the decisions he makes throughout the film. This is the real achievement of this work and despite some hard-hitting moments it’s impossible to shift allegiance as you watch him play out his 6 years in this Parisian prison.
This isn’t always the case with Vincent Cassel’s character in last years Jacques Mesrine films which is the obvious recent comparison to A Prophet. Niels Arestrup plays the leader of a Corsican gang who run the prison with almost equal intelligence.
As a film, it’s not as glossy or entertaining as the Killer Instinct or Public Enemy No.1 but the acting and the film score is superb. We‘ll be seeing more of Tahar Rahim and, during one scene, ‘Bridging the Gap’ by Nas works perfectly as a backdrop to this iconic gangsters contemporary look.
Rating: 7/10
Comments: The latest confirmation of the current strength of French gangster films.