Director: Jacques Audiard
Starring: Tahir Rahim, Niels Arestrup & Adel Bencherif
A very impressive crime/prison drama, wide in scope, well acted, filled with tension and gripping throughout its near three hour running time. A crime classic in the making.
Having delved in to the world and crime before, with his previous film The Beat That Skipped My Heart Skipped being particularly impressive, Jacques Audiard’s latest film is his most ambitious film to date and already worthy of being compared favourably to crime classics. With a gripping and assured performance from newcomer Tahir Rahim, Audiard crafts the rise to power of an uneducated Arab boy in prison through the ranks of the Corsican and Islamic hierarchy.
Malik (Rahim) is an uneducated, Arab teenager sentenced to six years in prison for an attack upon a police officer. Alone and afraid, he is picked upon by the prison’s Corsican boss Cesar (Arestrup) to kill a witness in custody at the prison or face being killed if he fails or refuses. Forced into the act, Malik then falls under the protection of Cesar who, despite verbally and abusing his over his ethnicity, comes to rely upon Malik more and more to perform tasks for him in and out (on leave days) to further Cesar’s criminal career within and beyond the walls of the prison. As the years pass by, as he grows more experienced and educated, Malik finds his importance and influence growing and begins to develop criminal enterprises of his own, independent of Cesar.
A Prophet is a gripping drama throughout its near three hour running time. Carefully building up the growth of Malik within the walls of the prison yet never so slowly that the pacing suffers; Audiard manages a delicate and engaging tale of survival and of coming of age. While Malik arrives in the prison, seemingly innocent, his naivety at odds with the violent crime hinted at that caused him to be imprisoned, he his swiftly set upon by a group of Corsicans who use his vulnerability to pressure him into committing a murder or face death himself. This leads to one of many tense scenes littered throughout the film as Malik confronts various dangers and comes through frequently shaken but stronger, this one in particular requiring him to carry a blade in his mouth with which he must be able to produce to kill a witness. A moment where we witness Malik attempting to manoeuvre the blade in his mouth causing him to spit up blood is filled with tension. This opening act of violence also serves to plague Malik throughout the rest of the film with the ghost of the man killed appearing to haunt him and act as the voice telling him what he must do to survive. Malik’s relationship with that of Cesar, the senior Corsican who takes him under his wing despite Malik’s Arab background (Malik’s faith and loyalties to which is also a theme throughout as, while adopted by the Corsicans, he is shunned by the prison’s Muslim community). As Malik sees his importance and influence within the prison rise, it is Cesar who sees his own decrease as, once other Corsicans are transferred out, Cesar finds Malik the only one whom he can still threaten and order until even that power fades.
The performances in A Prophet aid the characters greatly. Tahir Rahim, a relative newcomer, impresses in his first leading role and one that requires much of him. Fortunately Rahim’s inexperience does him favours as his portrayal of Malik reveals Malik as the frightened boy he starts out to be yet maintains much of that fear even as Malik’s power grows, fears that it could be lost and even as his confidence shows, it is that of a young man sometimes acting more certain than he is. Cesar meanwhile, is portrayed by veteran actor Niels Arestrup who achieves the opposite of Rahim’s role and performance as the initially confident and powerful Cesar who clings to belief he still has the same power on influence and hides fears that it may be gone as he loses his control of the prison and sees his Arab boy rise above him leading to one especially humbling moment near the film’s finale where Cesar seeks Malik’s approval and sympathy.
Despite being a foreign film, subtitled and almost three hours in length, none of this should deter audiences from seeing what is a completely gripping crime/prison drama. A Prophet features very impressive performances, plenty of tension and deserves to be regarded highly amongst the best films of the genre. Excellent.
Rating: 5/5
