26.03.25, 20:30, La Haine (1993)

More than 30 years old, La Haine has not lost a grain of its raw energy. With his finger on the pulse of the turbulent 1990s in France, director Mathieu Kassovitz knew how to capture the climate of urbane violence and everyday racism like no other. We follow three young men from different communities (African, Arab, Jewish) as they navigate the concrete plains and dilapidated high-rises of the Parisian suburbs. ‘L'Avenir c'est nous’ is the slogan preached, but a hopeful future seems absent. While society is dealing them merciless blows, the trio's blood is boiling.

Whereas the suburbs or ‘banlieus’ regularly act as an arena for social-realist tearjerkers or violent action epics, La Haine transcends all categorisations. For 24 hours, we watch, listen and run along with a day and night in which the underlying tension with the authorities escalates. Yet the film does not forsake nuance for spectacle and always manages to offer a sharp look at an administration that has abandoned its most vulnerable. La Haine is an energetic and brutal film that neither glamorises nor patronises.