A young man (Rahim) gets sent to prison for 6 years. Because of his Arab background he is used by a mafia boss to complete a difficult task and thereafter learns how to survive prison life and indeed, get ahead.
Winner of Grand Prix at 2009 Cannes Film Festival, A Prophet is a hard-hitting prison drama that borrows elements from various classics of its genre, is absolutely unflinching in both its content & narration, introduces the vastly talented Tahar Rahim in his breakthrough role, and is aggressive enough to rank amongst the most potent gangster flicks out there.The story of A Prophet (also known as Un prophète) follows Malik El Djebena a 19-year old petty criminal who's sentenced to six years in prison but soon finds himself caught between the two main factions, the Corsicans & the Muslims, until forced to side with the former.
Great overall story, no major twists but still not predictable, well done. I'll focus on the bad things though: Soundtrack/score - I don't remember any of it (I just watched this film an hour ago).
A film about survive, rules, dirt, escape, metamorphosis. a well crafted movie, honest, cruel, embroidery of details and precise images, beautiful in a special manner, more than a prison story but a form of society analysis.
Frenchman Jacques Audiard's Golden Globe winning and Oscar nominated 2009 prison opus is a startlingly original tale that 4 years down the track still packs an almighty punch both emotionally for the viewer and as a work of art.The story of A Prophet to an outsider would seem slight but in the finalized package it is anything but.
I waded through a couple of "Best of 2010" lists until I clicked on Newsweek 's picks and found A Prophet at the top. I read the short paragraph about it and they had me with "prison movie.
I have heard that judges sometimes give criminals a choice - either prison or the Army. Either way, you can be all you can be, as Malik (Tahar Rahim) finds out.
"Un Prophète" is an excellent film that highlights in a very intense and realistic way the psychological games behind bars and how the external affairs are handled inside. With character development, fine cinematography and coherent storytelling A Prophet earned with merits its Grand Prix in Cannes.
