How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic so far depened on distinctive uses of film techniques?

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic so far depend on distinctive uses of film techniques?

La Haine is a French film directed by Mathieu Kassovitz in 1995. This urban film includes many different technical codes. One of which is the camera and character positioning. This is significant as it shows conflict between our protagonists, a main recurring theme throughout. Said is almost always placed in the middle of Hubert and Vinz. This may represent Said as the 'peacemaker' as he is the main influence on why they are all still together. The impact of this, portrays Said as being the less aggressive character in the film; which could be for many reasons. For example he is the only one out of the friendship group with a 'father like figure' present, due to his big brother who is part of the roof top crew. This suggests he has responsible, male guidance which is what Hubert and Vinz lack. The idea of Said being the character that brings the youths together can be seen in the first scene, with the use of each characters being introduced in separate shots, Said goes to find Vinz and then Hubert. The use of handheld camera shots helps give a sense of reality as the audience can easily relate  to the characters as they also feel like they are following Siad around. The use of the mid shot helps the audience to feel comfortable however highlights the significance of the mise-en-scene in the urban areas of France. Such as; the graffiti on the wall, run down council blocks and other teenagers just like our protagonists in the same situation, 'trapped' in their own area.





















Kassovitz also uses mise-en-scene in the opening sequence to help the audience encode different characteristics and interests of the group. When Said is first introduced, he graffiti's on  police van 'Said fucks the police', which is wrote in Arabic. This is accompanied by the use of a point of view shot as it is displaying his personal identity because of the language he has wrote his own name in. This technique is also used when Vinz is first shown in his bedroom through the use of a 360 degrees camera rotation. This slowly reveals different things he has in his room. The use of this shot is to establish some background knowledge of Vinz's character. This type of shot is significant to one of the films key moral that they are forever stuck in a never ending cycle, which foreshadows the end of the narrative due to he fact they are not able to pull themselves away from their poor, miserable lives. For example, the first thing we see is Vinz's trainer collection. They are all American branded, which highlights the western culture which is present throughout the film. Also, there are posters in his room, such as Marilyn Monroe who is a big part of American culture. From the use of the mise-en-scene in Vinz's bedroom it is evident he may be highly influenced by American culture, which once again portrays his own personal identity and the contrast between the characters culture and where they are living in France. The final protagonist introduced is Hubert, he is first shown though a long shot in a burnt down gym. This may suggest he is not as certain of his personal identity or as 'cocky' about who he is and where he lives, than the other members of the group. This shot is then followed by a close up shot of a match poster containing his name and a picture of him. The impact of each character having their names clearly shown on screen for the audience suggests how desperate each one of them is to develop their own identity as opposed to being another