Jailhouse Roquefort
25. Feb, 2010 
0 Comments
Un Prophète (A Prophet)
Incarcerated Rookie
Official Website | Trailer & Mo
No good punk Malik (Tahar Rahim) isn’t serving a life sentence, but his 6 years behind French-fried bars will provide him with endless life experiences. He walks in illiterate, allegiance-less (he’s a Muslim, in name only) and easy pickings for the more tenured inmates. When a crusty old Corsican gang member (Niels Arestrup) takes him under his wing, with a large dose of tough love and even tougher assignments (offing a rat, and not the kind that Henry Jones fears), he quickly rises from golden boy to made man. Eventually allowed access to the outside world due to good behavior, Malik, like most crime doesn’t pay ladder climbers, gets to big for his own britches, searching for riches, and ends up crossing all those who helped and stood in the way of his path
Jacques Audiard‘s Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film… film (sorry, but it’s White Ribbon‘s to lose) doesn’t seem overly original, but there’s something about its many borrowed parts and how their fused together in a curious 155-minuted pie that’s hard to loss interest in for a single moment. And despite the fact that the misguided Malik isn’t the mos lovable character to rah-rah sis-boom-ba over, you’ve invested so much time watching him that you inevitably want to see if he comes out on top, or simply alive. Don’t let the title fool you. There isn’t anything deep at play here, even if at times it feels like there might be, but as a viewer, there is much to profit from, and not much to lose
He Likes To Score: one man, one very impressive resume, learn this name… Alexandre Desplat
Verdictgo: Jeepers Worth A Peepers
Prophète opens in NY/LA on Friday and st elsewhere st elsewhen!
and until next thyme the balcony is clothed…
