A Prophet

If you saw the solid (though short) prison scenes in last years Mesrine then you are in for a treat with A Prophet. Imagine those scenes stretched to 150 minutes, then throw in a smart and brutal screenplay and some excellent acting, and you’ll be someway to the experience you’ll get from watching Jacques Audiard’s gripping film. Set almost entirely in prison, the film begins with the imprisonment of Malik (Tahar Rahim) for an unnamed offence (though it’s hinted its for a rumble with the French Old Bill). Trying to keep his head down doesn’t last long as before you can blink he’s been forced by Cesar Luciani (Niels Arestrup), a Corsican who is the unofficial kingpin of the prison, to undertake an horrific attack on another prisoner. The crime Malik carries out is not glossed over. We have the build up, the assault and then the aftermath, all directed with the keenest of precision. This isn’t pretentiousness by Audiard, but an understanding of the harsh, brutal and dog-eat-dog world of incarceration. It’s unlikely you’ll see a more realistic and horrific attack in the movies for quite some time. Following the assault, Malik finds himself under Luciani’s protection, but also, natch, in his pocket. I won’t say where the film goes after that as it’ll only spoil things, and frankly, it would be a different task to undertake. This is a film with quite a few twists as more and more characters are introduced and Malik starts playing one prison gang against the other. Or does he? Trying to work out what’s going on can actually be a bit of a struggle as we’re overloading with names and situations. This doesn’t distract from the film per se but by the time Malik is getting up to all sorts on his “free” days from prison it starts to become a bit ludicrous and too “Hollywood” compared to what has gone on previously. Overall though, Audiard provides us with another addition to the recent surge of excellence in European cinema with a film that is not only superbly directed, but also an emotional experience for the audience.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
A slight mis-step at the end, but before that it's smart, emotional, gripping and brutal. Rating: 8/10.