La Haine – Un film macho?

Lesson Objectives: In this lesson you will learn to

analyse the macho and misogynistic elements of the

film.

Absence of male authority figures.

• The main characters are quasi-adolescent.

• Absence of male figures common in banlieu and beur films.

• Nordine – Saïd’s older brother• Samir – local beur cop• The drunk • All ineffectual

Heads of families.

• All female• Aunts, mothers, grandmothers.• Society’s representatives are female• Newscaster , journalist

Infantile heroes

• However, the heroes do not occupy the absent fathers’ place.

• Live at home in state of perpetual adolescence, cultural discussions confined to childhood cartoons.

• Attempt to steal a car, none can drive.• Scene where Saïd talks about sex with

a woman – in a playground, under giant hippopotamus statue.

• Scene in art gallery shows sexual and social ineptitude.

macho

• They inhabit a testosterone- fuelled world

• Boxing, guns, obscene language• Favourite insult “nique ta mère”• Rap song in the car “mon esprit part

en couille”• Vinz’s shaved head and leather

jacket, Hubert’s fatigues all denote a macho world.

Impotent

• Vinz can’t fire the gun – despite his Robert De Niro Taxi Driver impersonation.

• They fail to steal the car.• Saïd at the end watches helplessly.

The women

• Barely glimpsed• At home, cooking, sewing, doing the

homework• On the rare occasions they appear in public,

they are targets for crude aggression and unprovoked macho insults.

• Saïd’s sister, the women in the art gallery. • Typical of banlieu and beur films• They are denied a role, none qualifies as a

character.• Their relation to the males is purely biological

and they do not participate in social issues.