A Prophet [Blu-ray]

A quote on the box describes A Prophet as ''Scarface meets the Godfather''; I think a more accurate description would be Scarface meets The Shawshank redemption. An even more accurate description still would be Scarface meets Scum.

The story follows a young man, thrown into Jail at the tender age of 19 - rejected by most of the prison gangs he eventually finds a home of sorts amongst a group of Mafioso; who tolerate him rather than embrace him. He spends his time doing chores for the gang and cultivating his mind, before eventually rising to power for himself.

As you'd imaging there are some rather brutal scenes in this film, but it is not through violence our hero rises to power. It's more through clever navigation of prison politics and knowing when to pick a fight and with who. Violence is not the main thrust here. The film is far cleverer than that, and you'll really have to watch and pay attention to understand what's going on.

Both I and my flat mate were glued to the TV last night as this epic unfolded - cursing the fact that we couldn't pull our eyes away or switch it off, despite its 155minute running time keeping us up well past our bedtime. The story, in this sense also, is just like scarface - epic - spanning many years and taking its time to unfold.

The way the story is told is excellent - with plans being set in motion and names dropped well in advance of exciting outcomes and anything happening - and I suspect it'll be even better on a second viewing. The acting is excellent, and you really like, admire, and feel for the star as his predicaments arise one after the other. You can taste the tension, and moments - particularly at the start - are terrifying, as you try to imagine what on earth you'd do if put in his situation.

I've given this film 4 stars - although it is equally deserving of 5 - I wouldn't argue with anyone who gave it 5, but for me the reality of the way it was shot and acted just meant it lacked something for me when it came to viewing pleasure. It was like watching real life and not a film - so in that sense, it wasn't as enjoyable for me as it could have been. Never the less - I thought it was great and would really recommend it to anyone thinking of buying it. I'll probably watch it again very soon, knowing what to expect, and then come back and change my score to 5 - but for now it remains a 4. I know my flat mate would have given it a 5 stars. After 15 minutes he was in awe of it.

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I don't like gangster and prison movies as a genre, and the only thing that sets this movie apart from other such movies is Tahar Rahim's fantastic performance. Just discovering him made this movie definitely worth watching. Otherwise, it's not a particularly great or even interesting movie.

Unlike The Godfather, for example, this movie does not transcend its genre and become deeply rewarding far beyond a gangster movie. I loved Godfather despite its being a gangster movie, but A Prophet doesn't rise above its material.

Also (and this may seem petty, but it's my review so I can write whatever I want to), there's a really annoying song about midway through by some singer doing a Bob Dylan imitation. Another reviewer thought it WAS Dylan and praised the movie for using his song, but that person must never have heard the real thing. Maybe to French ears it sounds like Dylan, and the singer obviously is trying really hard to pull it off, but it just made me extremely angry.

It's not even a copycat singer singing a Dylan song - it's a fake Dylan singing a song he made up to sound like a Dylan song. How dare he? and how dare they give him an international venue for his plagiarism? If they want a Dylan song, dig up the cash and use a real one, not a cheap fake. I'm still angry about that.

So I recommend this movie ONLY for Rahim's fantastic performance. I'm going to watch whatever other movies with him are available and hope they have something to offer in addition to him, because great acting in mediocre movies only goes so far.

Films like Un Prophete don't come about very often, but when they do, they can hardly afford to be missed. I didn't really know much about this film as I picked it up on the basis of a very strong recommendation from a lot of people, with a few likenesses banded about comparing it to The Godfather and Scarface. It was only when I read the comment from FHM on the box that I realised these comparisons were hardly original, seeing as they were written on the box.

I don't think that Un Prophete is adequately described by those similes, as it stands up perfectly well on its own two feet. The most important fact that isn't obvious from those recommendations is that this is essentially a prison drama. Instead of telling an epic Disney-style story of The Shawshank Redemption, this film owes far more to the grimy realism of Taxi Driver, complete with the violence that is enough to make most people squirm a little in a couple of places early on in the film.

The whole film is a masterpiece to behold. I wouldn't necessarily call it a film to enjoy; it's not the sort of thing to watch with a bowl of popcorn in between a couple on a romantic night in. The acting leads are understatedly brilliant. I almost didn't notice the acting, simply because they drew me right into their world (even though one of the lead characters does look very much like Antony Worral Thompson). Every time I though the film was about to run out of steam, the director manages to pace the film perfectly, keeping me interested and immersed into the Machievellian power play being drawn out by the two leads, watching the shift in power, which culminates in a brilliant scene at the end, which has no audible dialogue but whose images convey flawlessly the shift in power and the usurping of the king.