RE: First Exam Mock

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques.

La Haine is a 1995 film directed by Matthieu Kassovitz set in Paris. La Haine translates to The Hate which hints at the social problems surrounding this film.
The film technique that impacted me the most would be the use of Black and White. This highlights the conflict between race and also provides the idea that we as an audience see everything in black and white but as we can see in the film there are a lot of 'grey areas' both physically through the use of black and white and also through actions such as the Police brutality scene in the interrogation scene. The three protagonists are from a cosmopolitan background that seemingly sound like a joke at first. A jew, an Arab and a Black man live in the suburbs of Paris, the projects. What is interesting is that the actors and director lived in the projects for 6 months in order to gain a more realistic performance.

Another technique that impacted me highly would be the use of camera angles in order to show conflict between characters often combined with the mise en scene. Specifically one scene in which there is a physical barrier held between Vinz and Hubert illustrating conflict between the two, a physical divide. There is one scene in particular, the bathroom scene, in which conflict is shown through a clever use of mirrors that positions Said between Vinz and Hubert. The three shot is often used placing Said in between the other two who can be seen as two very drastic opposites in how they deal with their problems. This film could actually be seen as an argument of how you should react in times of hardship, the calm, distant Hubert style or the aggressive explosive way of Vinz.

We can see through the use of non-diegetic sound another impactful use of film techniques. Throughout the whole film there is a large use of music which often tends to be Westernised. Specifically the scene where Vinz and Said go to a hangout you can hear a recurring word which is 'California'. This strongly highlights the fact that the music doesn't represent France or it's culture but the domination of Western Culture. However, the scene where a DJ uses his turntables to literally mix the cultures of France and America through the use of MWA and Edith Piaf show a strong integration between Westernised culture and the projects of France. It is also highly noted that there is breakdancing in the 'hangout' scene which originated in the 70s from America; this just furthers the fact that they are lacking their own culture. Kassovitz, could however be trying to highlight the idea that they had just lacked the opportunity to acknowledge France's culture due to being lower class.

Through the use of the film Techniques I've highlight that are used by Mathieu Kassovitz you can see they are specifically chosen in order to create reactions and emotions from the audience. He does this by filming in black and white, which is definitely considered uncommon, especially within modern cinema. He also uses non-diegetic sound in order to portray the lack of culture in the projects.