Details

Summary

While to most outsiders Paris seems the very picture of beauty and civility, France has had a long and unfortunate history of intolerance toward outsiders, and this powerful drama from filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz takes an unblinking look at a racially diverse group of young people trapped in the Parisian economic and social underclass. Vinz (Vincent Cassel), who is Jewish, Hubert (Hubert Kounde), who is Black, and Said (Said Taghmaoui), who is Arabic, are young men from the lower rungs of the French economic ladder; they have no jobs, few prospects, and no productive way to spend their time. They hang out and wander the streets as a way of filling their days and are sometimes caught up in frequent skirmishes between the police and other disaffected youth. One day, a street riot breaks out after police seriously injure an Arab student; the three friends are arrested and questioned, and it is learned that a policeman lost a gun in the chaos. However, what they don't know is that Vinz picked it up and has it in his possession, and when Vinz, Hubert, and Said get into a scuffle with a group of racist skinheads, the circumstances seem poised for tragedy. Actress Jodie Foster was so impressed with La Haine when she saw it at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival that she helped to arrange American distribution for the film through her production company, Egg Pictures.

Credits

Vincent Cassel	...	Vinz
Hubert Koundé	...	Hubert
Saïd Taghmaoui	...	Said
Abdel Ahmed Ghili	...	Abdel
Solo	...	Santo
Joseph Momo	...	Ordinary Guy
Héloïse Rauth	...	Sarah
Rywka Wajsbrot	...	Vinz's Grandmother
Olga Abrego	...	Vinz's Aunt
Laurent Labasse	...	Cook
Choukri Gabteni	...	Said's Brother
Nabil Ben Mhamed	...	Boy Blague
Benoît Magimel	...	Benoît
Medard Niang	...	Médard (as Médard Niang)
Arash Mansour	...	Arash
Abdel-Moulah Boujdouni	...	Young Businessman
Mathilde Vitry	...	Journalist
Christian Moro	...	CRS TV Journalist
JiBi	...	Fat Youth
Edouard Montoute	...	Darty
Félicité Wouassi	...	Hubert's mother
Fatou Thioune	...	Hubert's Sister
Thang-Long	...	Grocer (as Thang Long)
Cut Killer	...	DJ
Sabrina Houicha	...	Said's Sister
Sandor Weitmann	...	Vinz Lookalike (as Sandor Weltmann)
François Levantal	...	Astérix
Julie Mauduech	...	Gallery Girl
Karin Viard	...	Gallerly Girl
Peter Kassovitz	...	Gallery Patron
Vincent Lindon	...	Really Drunk Man
Christophe Rossignon	...	Taxi Driver
Mathieu Kassovitz	...	Young Skinhead
Anthony Souter	...	Skin
Florent Lavandeira	...	Skin
Teddy Marques	...	Skin
Samir Khelif	...	Skin
Tadek Lokcinski	...	Monsieur Toilettes
Virginia Montel	...	SDF Metro (as Virginie Montel)
Andrée Damant	...	Concierge
Marcel Marondo	...	Bouncer
Karim Belkhadra	...	Samir
Marc Duret	...	Inspector Notre Dame
Eric Pujol	...	Assistant Policeman
Philippe Nahon	...	Police Chief
Sébastien Tavel	...	Hospital police officer
François Toumarkine	...	Hospital police officer
Jose-Philippe Dalmat	...	Hospital Police Officer (as José-Philippe Dalmat)
Zinedine Soualem	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Bernie Bonvoisin	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Cyril Ancelin	...	Plainclothes Police Officer
Patrick Médioni	...	CRS Cave
Assassin	...	Composer
Pierre Aïm	...	Cinematographer
Scott Stevenson	...	Editor