A Prophet

A Prophet is French Thriller, Drama and Crime/Gangster film. Its dialogue is in french and i believe a bit of Arabic. This film is directed by Jacques Audiard and stars, Tahir Rahim, and Niels Arestrup. This film portrays the life of a 18 years old Arabic guy transferring to a French prison when he turns 18. He is the new guy in the prison with no one to protect him, so he seeks protection from the Corsican Mafia. At first he is their work horse, doing every little thing that they tell him. But as time passes, he earns more respect and gains more and more power and knowledge due to language abililities. He begins to understand Corsican, French and his native tongue, Arabic.

The first time that i read about this movie, i thought it would be like any other prison movie. I thought it would be like Blood In Blood out, or American Me. But really, it isn't. The prison and action aspect is much like any other prison movie. but the plot and story line is much more interesting and creative. Having a bilingual inmate, and having language being a strong weapon in the pen, now that's creative. The way that the director starts the film, introducing Malik (Tahir) as a minor transferring to a prison for a unknown crime keeps the audience guessing who he is. But later on you see that he is just a guy trying to cope with his new surroundings and needs help, being a new inmate and having no connections. The director really shows his character development through out the story. From, starting as a coffee maker to becoming his own man, to even having psychological problems. I think that the masterpiece behind this movie is the character development of Malik. Sure, the plot is pretty cool and has some surprises, but the real surprises come from Malik. This is a gangster movie, but also a clear character study of him.

I personally like prison movies, and find them really gritty and clever. This movie is one that not only gritty, clever, but also has you thinking what will happen next? How will Malik get out of this or that situation? He is a likable character, coming from nothing, and then building his respect and himself to the top. You cant help but wonder if he will be like the other bosses, and a rutheless criminal or will he be better than that? Will he resist all of that and be a good guy? He has the good heart and personality, but he also has his criminal side. He is very spontaneous on how he does things. I think that this movie has a lot of sentimental symbolism as well. It shows a lot about the life of a criminal, respect, choices, loyalty, and self discovery. The acting is great, i think every single person in this movie acted great. The story line was great. The Characters were great. The action is great, and lastly the obscure surprises. Overall, i give this film 5 stars, and highly recommend this to any one that loves, crime dramas, crime thrillers, gangster, prison, and mob movies.

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