UN PROPHET / A PROPHET

I don’t know how “in” to the European film scene you are, but if you are (in) you will have heard of the French film “Un Prophet.” It not only won a whole bunch of awards continent-wide (one BAFTA, the Jury Grand Prize at Cannes, 9 Cesar awards and a Golden Globe Nomination to name but a few) but was an Oscar ® nominee for Best Foreign Picture no less. The trailer seemed (to me) to make it out to be a modest little number, plus after having watched Celda 211 (see archive for review – a Spanish masterpiece that one) I sincerely doubted any other film set in a prison would be able to “wow” me. Ok, so the film is by no means “little” and it knocked my socks off. Now let me give you a brief explanation of why.
Set in modern-day France we follow the story of Malik El Djebenah, a prison inmate of Arab origins. He has pretty much spent the best part of his adult life in jail – but that isn’t saying much since he is only 19 years old. And as he is 19 years old, he is now being moved from the ?? to prison proper, to finish his sentence with the “big guys”. Malik is young and inexperienced and in prison some guys are bigger than others. In this particular case, the Corsicans are about as big as you can get. Malik is soon (and completely by chance) tangled up with them. He does their dirty work (some work dirtier than the rest it has to be said…) they consent to not killing him, in short they have a mutually beneficial deal of sorts going. But although Malik seems to be little more than their lapdog on the outside, inside, he has plans of his own. He uses his head, experience and the trust of the Corsicans to start “businesses” of his own, until, let us say, he reaches a point where he must either sink or fly… The question is whether in this case pride comes before a fall or not…
While watching this film I couldn’t help but remember the gangster classic “Scarface” from time to time. Malik is sort of like Tony Montana, only not quite. For example, he is not consumed by the need to rule and wield power the way Tony is. At first he is just trying to survive. Then he is just trying to make a living. Then he is just seeing how much he can get away with… Although both characters end up wielding great power, Malik’s is a more of a slow and painful decent not a flaming ascent like in Tony. I can definitely say that Malik reacts pretty much the way you or I may have done if we were in prison at 19. And the realism, to my mind, doesn’t end there. I get the impression, though of course I am no expert, that Un Prophet is a very realistic portrait of a certain facet of life in France…
To sum up the film is exciting, sad and at times very difficult to watch… And it’s conclusion… Is different from what you may expect, and don’t count on the Scarface simile to give you any clues! Watch it with caution - but definitely watch it!