History Film / LaHaine

Taking place over roughly the next 24 hours, the group tries to come to grips with their anger over Abdel's predicament while wandering through aimless lives filled with prejudice and profiling, with Vinz harboring an extreme desire for revenge. When news breaks that a cop lost their handgun in the riot, a series of events unfold against a cultural backdrop of unending tension between the police and the people that reaches a climactic and intense boiling point.

''La Haine'' (English: "''Hate''") is a 1995 [[DeliberatelyMonochrome black-and-white]] French movie, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and set in the modern-day slums at the north of Paris -- more precisely, in [[{{Gangsterland}} Seine-Saint-Denis]] (aka "93" or "neuf-trois" from its department number).

The film starts the morning after a riot ensues in the slums following the beating and arrest of a young Arab named Abdel Ichacha, and centers around a trio of ''banlieusards''[[note]]suburbanites[[/note]] that are friends of Abdel's -- [[TheMcCoy Vinz]] (Creator/VincentCassel), a hot-headed Jew; [[TheKirk Saïd]] (Creator/SaidTaghmaoui), a wisecracking graffiti artist Beur[[note]] The term Beur is slang meaning any French-born descendant of North African immigrants.[[/note]]; and [[TheSpock Hubert]] (Hubert Koundé), the oldest and wisest of the three, who is black.

* TheBadGuysAreCops: Played with. All of the police In-Universe are [[BadCopIncompetentCop corrupt, abusive, or just plain useless]], but as Hubert points out, they're not all bad, particularly when contrasted with the neo-Nazi skinheads that the boys also tussle with. Just as [[PayEvilUntoEvil aspirational cop killer]] Vinz is becoming convinced of this, [[spoiler: he's killed by a cop.]] Come to your own conclusions. To be fair, it's not all cops who are corrupt in this movie. The main corrupt cops are the ones who shot the gang's friend years back, and the small group who interrogates Hubert and Sayid. The rest are mostly just trying to do their job.

* ChekhovsGun: The entire movie has the viewer wondering if, or when, the police gun that Vinz found will go off. [[spoiler: Subverted in that Vinz never shoots the gun, but he is shot and killed by someone else. And most likely Hubert, who tries the whole movie to prevent Vinz from acting, did shoot the gun.]]

* CopKiller: Vinz makes it his primary goal to kill a cop with the lost handgun if Abdel dies, much to the dislike of Hubert, who's also critical of Vinz's blanket resentment towards the police. [[spoiler:Moments after Abdel is declared dead on the news, he approaches two cops...[[SubvertedTrope and merely]] [[ImagineSpot imagines killing them]] with a FingerGun]].

* CreatorCameo: Director Mathieu Kassovitz briefly appears as the skinhead that [[spoiler: Vinz intends to shoot]].

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Abdel is declared dead, and it's built as an opportunity for [[CharacterDevelopment Vinz to learn from his vengeful ways]] -- until he dies a pointless, [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace completely accidental]] death at the hands of a plainclothes officer, a microcosm for the wider downward spiral of French society through hostility into meaningless violence. This leads to a MexicanStandoff between him and Hubert. While it's not made clear who was on the receiving end of the single gunshot we hear, it's evident that someone has died for no substantial reason]].

* EvilCounterpart: Both the aggressive plainclothes cop in the woolly hat and Vinz seem to regard each other as being this. They are both always itching for confrontation: the cop can't resist taunting the residents of the estate and has to be continually restrained by his colleagues. [[spoiler: In the end, it's this cop who will accidentally kill Vinz.]]

* FreezeFrameBonus: [[spoiler:If one looks closely during Vinz's CopKiller ImagineSpot, they might find that [[FingerFirearms his hand looks as if it has been fused with a gun]]]].

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: [[spoiler:In the end, a plainclothes officer's gun -- which had been pointed flippantly at Vinz's head -- goes off by accident, killing him instantly.]]

* MexicanStandoff: The last scene where Hubert [[spoiler: and the policeman are pointing guns at each other. At least one person dies]].

* PoliceBrutality: A particularly brutal vicious circle relationship between the Paris police and a group of teenage thugs from the local banlieues. The police raid the deprived banlieues, the people who live there fight back, which means the police crack down harder on the area, which means the people start rioting...[[spoiler:It eventually culminates in the police shooting an unarmed teenage boy, and one officer and the boy's best friend holding guns to each other's heads. And then the screen goes to black and a single gunshot is heard. End of film.]]

* RecklessGunUsage: It's this on the part of a cop that ends up killing [[spoiler: Vinz.]]

** Arguably RuleOfSymbolism: The police used to be referred to as 'les vaches' (cows) in France. So it's foreshadowing and a possible hallucination by Vinz - there are a number of unexplained instances of this, e.g. when he [[spoiler: 'shoots' the police officer in the train station.]]

* JerkAss: Almost everyone in this movies fits that trope. It's what makes this so uncomfortable to watch. Even Hubert at times is like this. Although justified in a lot of cases, especially when Vinz makes him nervous.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse?: Where did that Cow come from? Where did she go?

* FingerGun: Vinz uses one to pretend-kill various people and animals throughout the movie, [[spoiler:likely indicative of his being truly unable to commit actual murder]].

** WhatCouldHaveBeen: A color re-release was planned in case the original release flopped.

* FreezeFrameBonus: [[spoiler:If one looks closely during Vinz's CopKiller ImagineSpot, they might find that [[FingerFirearms his hand looks as if it has been fused with a gun]].

* ImagineSpot: Vinz has several, seeing cows on the street. Another one involves a police officer being BlownAcrossTheRoom.

* BlownAcrossTheRoom: [[spoiler:Two police officers is blown back into a window when being shot during one of Vinz's {{Imagine Spot}}s.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Vinz dies a pointless, [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace completely accidental]] death at the hands of a plainclothes officer, a microcosm for the wider downward spiral of French society through hostility into meaningless violence. This leads to a MexicanStandoff between him and Hubert. While it's not made clear who was on the receiving end of the single gunshot we hear, it's evident that someone has died for no substantial reason]].

Taking place over roughly the next 24 hours, a riot cop's lost handgun, Vinz's obsessive desire for revenge, and a long time of simmering tension between civilians and police are all factors in the intense boiling point the film ultimately reaches.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Applies to Vinz, because Vinz can be evil. But he respects his mother, and takes "Honor thy mother and father" very seriously, like his friends.

* FalseRoulette: Astérix makes fun of Vinz by playing this trick on him. Saïd and Hubert also bought it.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: During the whole movie, Vinz keeps pointing his hand, making it look like a gun, at people or dogs and making shooting sound. He even does it to himself in the mirror, or to cops (on the roof, and in the street). Also, the cows (see WhatHappenedToTheMouse).
* GayMoment: Although jokingly in a rather anti-gay movie. Vinz gives Sayid a haircut for a date with his girl. He hates the cut. To bother him, Vinz asks Sayid to kiss him. Which Sayid tells him off.

* MexicanStandoff: The last scene where Hubert [[spoiler: and the policeman are pointing guns at each other. [[TakingYouWithMe It doesn't end well]]]].
* TheNineties
* NotTheFallThatKillsYou: The recurring motif of the man who falls from the top of a four storey building. As he falls, he repeats, "''Jusqu'ici, tout va bien''" ("So far, so good", or "Up to here, all goes well").
* PayEvilUntoEvil: To quote the "Fresh" trope, some of the villains in this movie are truly nasty human beings. And Vinz desires to give them nasty ends

* TitleDrop: Hubert says "La haine attire la haine!"("hatred breeds hatred").

* VertigoEffect: In a scene half-way through the movie (see image on top of this page), the three boys stand on a bridge or rooftop and the street behind them goes through the Vertigo Effect.

* BlownAcrossTheRoom: A police officer is blown back into a window when being shot during one of Vinz's {{Imagine Spot}}s.

''La Haine'' (English: "''Hate''") is a 1995 black and white French movie, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and set in the modern-day slums at the north of Paris -- more precisely, in [[{{Gangsterland}} Seine-Saint-Denis]], aka "93" or "neuf-trois" from its department number.

Centering around a trio of banlieusards, the film follows them through a roughly 24 hour period from the morning after a riot, through run-ins with the police and unreliable fences, a night wandering around central Paris and back home. The three main characters are Vinz (Creator/VincentCassel), a hot-headed Jew; Saïd (Creator/SaidTaghmaoui), a wisecracking graffiti artist Beur[[note]] The term Beur is slang meaning any French-born descendant of North African immigrants.[[/note]]; and Hubert (Hubert Koundé), the oldest and wisest of the three, who is black. Together, they face prejudice not just because of their races but also because, as banlieusards, they are assumed to be thugs - a reputation they find themselves earning uncomfortably often.

As the title suggests, it is not a happy film, though it does have some moments.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:A case of IJustShotMarvinInTheFace leads to a MexicanStandoff leads to a BolivianArmyEnding. Assumed body count: 3]].

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: [[spoiler: What kills Vinz at the end of the film.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's about a guy falling from a 50-storey building. As he falls, he tries to reassure himself by repeating: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien" [[labelnote:translation]]"So far, so good." ("Until here, all goes well", [[BlindIdiotTranslation literally]])[[/labelnote]]. [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou It's not the fall that matters. It's the landing.]]"'']]

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->''[[DownerEnding "It's about a society in freefall.]] [[BookEnds To reassure itself, it repeats endlessly... "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien". It's not the fall that matters. It's the landing."]]''

''La Haine'' (English: "''Hate''") is a 1995 black and white French movie, directed by Mathieu Kassovitz and set in the modern-day slums at the north of Paris -- more precisely, in [[{{Gangsterland}} Seine-Saint-Denis]], aka "93" or "neuf-trois" from its department number. Centering around a trio of banlieusards, the film follows them through a roughly 24 hour period from the morning after a riot, through run-ins with the police and unreliable fences, a night wandering around central Paris and back home. The three main characters are Vinz (Creator/VincentCassel), a hot-headed Jew; Saïd (Creator/SaidTaghmaoui), a wisecracking graffiti artist Beur[[note]] The term Beur is slang meaning any French-born descendant of North African immigrants.[[/note]]; and Hubert (Hubert Koundé), the oldest and wisest of the three, who is black. Together, they face prejudice not just because of their races but also because, as banlieusards, they are assumed to be thugs - a reputation they find themselves earning uncomfortably often.

* PayEvilOntoEvil: To quote the "Fresh" trope, some of the villains in this movie are truly nasty human beings. And Vinz desires to give them nasty ends

[[caption-width-right:350:''"It's about a guy falling from a 50-storey building. As he falls, he tries to reassure himself by repeating: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien" [[labelnote:translation]]"So far, so good." ("Until here, all goes well", [[BlindIdiotTranslation literally]])[[/labelnote]]. [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou It's not the fall that matters. It's the landing!]]"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien" [[labelnote:translation]]"So far, so good." ("Until here, all goes well", [[BlindIdiotTranslation literally]])[[/labelnote]]. [[NotTheFallThatKillsYou How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!]]"'']]

->''[[DownerEnding "It's about a society on its way down.]] [[BookEnds And as it falls, it keeps telling itself: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien". It's not how you fall that matters. It's how you land."]]''

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien" [[labelnote:translation]]"So far, so good." ("Until here, all goes well", [[BlindIdiotTranslation literally]])[[/labelnote]]
. How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!"'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:''"Heard about the guy who fell off a skyscraper? On his way down past each floor, he kept saying to reassure himself: "Jusqu'ici tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien... jusqu'ici, tout va bien". How you fall doesn't matter. It's how you land!"'']]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/la_haine_3336.jpg]]

->''"Jusqu'ici, tout va bien."'' [[labelnote:translation]]"So far, so good." ("Until here, all goes well", [[BlindIdiotTranslation literally]])[[/labelnote]]

->''This is the story of a man who falls from a 50-storey apartment block. As he falls, he repeats over and over to reassure himself: "So far so good, so far so good, so far so good." But it's not the fall that's important - it's the landing.''

!!This film provides examples of:

* BookEnds: The first "non-archive footage" image is Saïd opening his eyes to the sound of a gunshot. The last image is Saïd closing his eyes to the sound of a gunshot.

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* JerkWithaHeartOfGold: As unlikable as Vinz can be, he's very loyal to his friends.

* JerkWithaHeartofGold: As unlikable as Vinz can be, he's very loyal to his friends.

* JerkAss: Almost everyone in this movies fits that trope. It's what makes this so uncomfortable to watch.

* TheBadGuysAreCops: Played with. All of the police In-Universe are [[BadCopIncompetentCop corrupt, abusive, or just plain useless]], but as Hubert points out, they're not all bad, particularly when contrasted with the neo-Nazi skinheads that the boys also tussle with. Just as [[PayEvilUntoEvil aspirational cop killer]] Vinz is becoming convinced of this, [[spoiler: he's killed by a cop.]] Come to your own conclusions.

* GayMoment: Although jokingly in a rather anti-gay movie. Vinz gives Sayid a cut for a date with his girl, which he hates. To bother him, Vinz asks Sayid to kiss him. Which Sayid tells him off.