District B13: Ultimatum

The original District B13 was an amiable kung fu Escape From New York ripoff, with a unique Gaelic flavor and social commentary, intriguing hip hop style, built around dependable buddy movie dynamic, and the then novel use of Parkour.

The first movie wasn’t perfect. Among its greater flaws was using the years long (!) forced addiction, abuse and sex slavery suffered by protagonists sister, about flippantly as its possible to use such things (made all the more laughable by the full psychological/ addiction recovery she goes through in a matter of seconds in order to insure a happy ending). Still despite its oddities in tone, District B13 was a fresh entertaining film that, if not begged a sequel could certainly accommodate one.

The movie this time follows our heroes slum leader and free runner par excellance Leto, and one good cop™ Tomaso, as they try to unravel yet another conspiracy to blow up uber slum District B13. This time headed up by the nefarious “Harry Burton” Corporation (SATIRE!!!) Will our heroes be able to stop the evil plot in time with the help of their colorful ethnic sidekicks? In a word… Wee.

The problem with said sequel, is that it hamstrings itself. Jetttisoning most of the dynamics that made the first one work along with most of the charismatic supporting cast. Perversely showing no Parkour until fifty minutes in, and not getting its two leads together until nearly an hour into its 90 minute runtime. Thusly it awkwardly becomes a parkour movie without parkour, and a buddy movie without buddies. Trying to subsist instead on admittedly impressive tracking shots through the eye popping production designs of its photogenic slums and somewhat less impressive displays of Frenchman Kung Fu.

There is some still to recommend District B 13 Ultimatum. The leads are still charismatic, despite the fact that separated they don’t get much of a chance to give their chemistry a work out. As inferred the production design inside the walled suburb is beautiful. Fully bringing to life the massive, now multi ethnic slum as surely as Cuaron did in Children Of Men (Albietly about a thousand times more comic booky). Still the level of detail is astounding, and much of the film is just plain fun to look at. The camera’s smooth, predatory creeping shots drinking in as much detail as the frame can hold. Also disarmingly appealing, is the films cynical yet almost sweet critique of French society. Both a clear eyed look at the religious and racial differences so trying the country, yet optimistic in the hope that liberty, fraternity and equality will ultimately trump the deep divisions.

While there’s no denying that I had a lot of fun with District B13: Ultimatum, mostly due to the films one (1) Free Running sequence, and the wholly unexpected if satisfying ending which at the very least seems to preclude the possibility of a District B13 3, there remains a feeling of simply being unsatisfied that is impossible to shake. For something that made its name by being so fresh, District B 13 Ultimatum feels depressingly like everything else.

A Prophet

A Prophet is the most ludicriously visceral experience I’ve had at a film since City Of God, and is the greatest crime film made since same. As A Prophet opens with handheld images of France seen through a prison van its like The French New Wave never ended. It’s the type of impressionistic vernacular based film the French used to excel at, and seeing this type of filmmaking again, alive and hungry is nothing short of a joy. And despite all its darkness there is something joyful about The Prophet, it’s the joy of an artist running on full steam, hitting all the marks with breathtaking precision, yes but it is also undeniably filled with the joy of watching someone crawl their way from nothing to something with swagger.

Just so we’re all aware, I know how much of a complete fucking philistine that makes me sound.

Because if there ever has been a gangster movie so utterly brutal, harsh and deglamorized as A Prophet, it doesn’t immediately spring to mind (I haven’t seen Gomorrah yet, but have it on the table next to me). The prisoner's in A Prophet make the squalor of City Of God look like the opulence of the Corleones. And yet I can’t help but feel that the undeniable charge the movie gave me was not entirely accidental. Audiard is a canny filmmaker he knows what he’s doing.

The film has classic gangster movie structure and despite its small scale, has a vividness of character and surrounding that makes it almost Dickensian. Sent to prison at 19 Petty theft Malik ends up inhabiting the netherworld between groups. There’s a power struggle in the prison between the Coriscan gangsters who control the power structure and the Muslim prisoners who greatly out number them. Malik Arab but not Muslim ends up serving as a valuable cat’s paw for the Coriscan’s, forced to murder a key witness against them and becoming something of a pet for the Coriscan’s. But Malik has a resourcefulness and ingenuity not readily apparent, and he’s not content to be a pet for long.

Audriad knows how to charge his films with quite irony. When after completing an important errand for the Corsican crime boss who runs the prison, Malik is transferred from his terrible cell to a slightly less terrible cell. The film takes it in with long loving shots, the wonders of the mini fridge, TV bolted to the wall and concrete walls. DePalma never shot Tony Montona’s mansions with such opulent splendor. And its this juxtaposition between the meagerness of their surroundings and the ferocity of the battle over them that gives A Prophet its unique frission.

And ferocious this film is, A Prophet is an utterly brutal movie with some of the most startlingly graphic violence I’ve scene in a film. But its all anchored in very human terms, by two tremendous performances by Tahar Rahim as Malik and Niels Arstrup as the aging Coriscan Cesar. Though nothing like the friend or mentorship you normally find in these films, the two have very little affection for each other at least on the surface, without them the movie would not succeed. They are fully realized characters and thanks to their performances we understand them every moment they are on screen.

The film has some flaws, particularly some over arty dream sequences in which Malik is haunted by the man he assassinated to gain the Coriscan’s favor. Near the end these scenes get down right Lynchian and jar with the film’s gritty tone. But these are little more then speedbumps.

Filled with pulsing intensity, unforgettable characters, effortless authenticity and even a couple moments of quiet beauty A Prophet is an electrifying experience.