Has anybody seen/heard about this foreign flick--A Prophet? Was reading a review in the Indy that compared it to The Wire AKA the greatest TV show of all time in its portrayal of violence. Plus, the synopsis made it sound interesting. Anybody seen it?

3/27/2010 3:52:51 PM

I haven't seen it yet but every single person who's talked to me about it afterward loved it (except for the one old lady who walked out because it was so violent).

3/27/2010 4:45:51 PM

Sweet. I think I'm gonna see it at Galaxy tomorrow.

3/27/2010 4:51:51 PM

Definitely going to watch this, just a matter of when I can muster the will to watch a 2.5+ hour prison flick.

While we're on the subject of foreign crime films, I really want to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo as well.

3/27/2010 5:25:23 PM

I've seen A Prophet and thought it was pretty good. I'm not sure I get the reference to The Wire though. I've seen the first 3 seasons of The Wire, and I wouldn't even think to compare the two.

I would compare the style of violence in it more to that of what's in Eastern Promises (which is an awesome movie). Especially the most standout scenes of violence in each (that "it's you vs me and could be either one of us at any moment" kinda feel).


I, too, am interested in seeing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Hopefully it will get a wider release soon. But I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't, there are plans for a US remake. Hopefully the galaxy or someplace will get it soon. FYI, You can find all 3 movies in the series online, but the english subs are poorly written.

3/28/2010 2:36:59 AM

Well, to be fair, it didn't compare it directly to The Wire, it compared to it, The Sopranos, and Oz. I haven't seen the movie yet, but from what I've read of the synopsis, I'm guessing the comparison stems from the theme of bad institutions overcoming good individuals (again, I'm not sure this happens in A Prophet, but I'm guessing it does from reading the synopsis). Obviously, though, this is a very vague theme that's driven many stories since forever ago.

Side note--you should watch the fourth season of The Wire. It is a masterpiece.

3/28/2010 11:45:09 AM

btw, Galaxy should be getting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on April 23rd. The poster makes it look soooo bad but the trailer looks really good.

3/28/2010 1:33:05 PM

^ awesome. Yeah, I was hesitant about it. But I've read pretty good reviews.


^^ yeah, it definitely has the "minor criminal goes to prison and is further corrupted" aspect. But in that sense, you can compare it to just about any crime/gang movie where the primary is either a young guy or even an actual kid and continues on that path - which there are probably about a hundred of.


But i was a little confused as to whether you were saying:
"the Indy compared it to The Wire (aka the greatest show of all time) in its portrayal of violence"
or
"the Indy compared it to The Wire (aka the greatest tv show of all time in its portrayal of violence).


I took it as the first, in which the Indy was saying the violence in the two were comparable - which I disagree with from the 3 seasons of The Wire that I've seen.


I think The Onion/AV club has a pretty good review of A Prophet, and accurate imo.
http://www.avclub.com/articles/a-prophet,38602/


But anyhow, it's definitely worth checking out.

3/28/2010 3:44:37 PM

Quote :

"But i was a little confused as to whether you were saying: "the Indy compared it to The Wire (aka the greatest show of all time) in its portrayal of violence" or "the Indy compared it to The Wire (aka the greatest tv show of all time in its portrayal of violence). I took it as the first, in which the Indy was saying the violence in the two were comparable - which I disagree with from the 3 seasons of The Wire that I've seen."

Yeah, sorry for the comma placement. I meant the first one, i.e. the Indy compared it to The Wire, aka the greatest show of all time, in its portrayal of violence. Meaning the portrayal of violence in both as similar.

Having now seen the movie, though, I agree with you and disagree with the Indy review. I also agree with you that that theme could describe any crime movie ever. It could even describe a lot of movies/novels/stories that aren't crime stories.

This movie, though, was definitely awesome. Definitely requires your full attention and there were some things I was a little confused about regarding race relations in France and the inner workings of the gangs, but still a great movie, extremely well-made crime movie.

I have a question (**SPOILER ALERT**):
















At the end, when Malik gets out and the convoy of SUVs follows behind him and he looks back: was that supposed to show his paranoia that someone is still after him or was he "protected" by the men in the SUVs? He seemed to have done what he needed to do to "make good" with everyone (or as good as you can make with those kind of people) so that noone, or at least noone with power, would still be after him, right?

Also, on a side note--one of the last scenes of the movie was fucking incredible. Where Malik returns to the common area after his 40 days in solitary confinement, and Cesar is on the opposite side stripped of all his power, but he still motions Malik to come over there. The desperate look in his eyes is perfect. Great acting job.

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 1:15 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2010 1:13:48 PM

Glad you liked it.

I guess i'll use spoiler tags since even though the movie is out already, it's not a big name movie that a lot of people have seen already ---


SPOILER



















I took the last scene as that convoy being all of his people/his "crew" that he had essentially acquired while moving through the ranks.




















/Spoiler

[Edited on March 29, 2010 at 1:31 PM. Reason : .]

3/29/2010 1:31:36 PM