Comparison between La Haine and City of God

In this analysis, I am going to be comparing the two films: ‘La Haine’ and ‘City of God’. They both fall into the category of world cinema, with La Haine being French and City of God being Brazilian. World cinema films are known for illustrating harsh messages revolving around social and political issues and because of this, they may struggle to attract globalised audiences meaning they have to rely strongly on their distributors and exhibitors. La Haine was directed and written by Mathieu Kassovitz; it was produced and distributed by Canal + in 1995. City of God on the other hand was directed by both Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund, written by Braulio Mantovani (based on the novel by Paulo Lins) and produced in 2002 with O2 Filmes and VideoFilmes, with the distributer being Miramax Films. Production Wise, there is a huge difference between the box offices of these films, however the budgets were fairly similar. La Haine had a budget of $2.5 million and City of God had a slightly higher budget of $3.3 million. Unfortunately, La Haine went on to make less money in the box office with an overall total of $309, 811 whereas City of God made a huge increase and went on to make $30.6 million. During the distribution stages, both films were screened at Cannes Film festival however the reason I believe City of God made more money is because Miramax is a big, American distributor/production company  so could gather a much more globalised audience compared to Canal +which is a French company which is not known worldwide.

La Haine follows Vinz (Vincent Cassel), Hubert (Hubert Kounde) and Said (Said Taghmaoui) through their twenty four hour period spent in the French suburban ghetto after their friend, Abdel is beaten unconscious by police. This causes riots in which a policeman loses his gun which is then found by Vinz who threatens to kill a member of the police if Abdel dies in hospital. City of God is narrated by the main protagonist, Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) who as well as telling his own story, looks over at the lives of Li’l Ze (Leandro Firmino) and Benny (Phellipe Haagensen). They are growing up in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and have contrasting dreams: Rocket wants to become a photographer and escape the favelas whilst Lil’ Ze and Benny become drug dealers and become extremely power hungry, which Rocket has no interest in. Both films illustrate an ongoing cycle. In La Haine, there is a cycle of violence, the protagonists cannot escape from the negativity that surrounds them and no matter how hard they try, they will always be forced into uncomfortable situations. In City of God, three generations worth of youths get involved in the dangerous hood lifestyle (The tender Trio at the beginning, Lil’ Ze and Benny etc. throughout the main duration of the film and then the Runts at the end of the film), illustrating that this is the ‘normal’ lifestyle in the city of god and it is what is expected of each generation, so they feel as if they have to do what is destined for them.

The contextual factors play a huge role in both La Haine and City of God because they are both based upon true stories relating to social and political issues at the time regarding poverty, power and conflict. La Haine is based upon the murder of a black youth named Makome M’Bowole who was shot and killed whilst in police custody which resulted in huge protests against the police and real life footage of the riots is used at the beginning of the film during the opening credits. City of God is based upon the novel to which the writer, Paulo Lins once lived in the favelas and went on to become a successful photographer. The characters in the film are based upon real people including Knockout Ned in which the real version of him is shown during the credits of the film. The narratives of La Haine and City of God have evolved from strong themes such as police brutality, corruption, prejudice, class and violence and this realism confirms that both films have been made in response to their social and political context. The fact that both directors are aware of these issues enhances the power of the narratives and therefore results in stronger impacts on their audiences.

Although both of these films fall under the genres of crime, drama, social realism in the style of a documentary, City of God appears to follow a Hollywood style whereas La Haine completely follows an independent cinema style. I say this because COG has a protagonist/hero (Rocket) with a goal to escape from the favelas and he achieves this through his talent in photography. Contrastingly, La Haine is much more pessimistic because as hard as the protagonists (Hubert, Vinz and Said) try to escape from the estate, they are constantly being forced into negative situations with ongoing violence, even at the end of the film. Therefore, La Haine illustrates a much more realistic picture of what it was like in that time and context whereas COG does portray the harsh, tragic realism of the favelas but at the say time, suggests that one man can escape from the power, poverty and conflict surrounding him and can be rewarded for hard work- creating a sense of hope which is unrealistic. This is shown through Rocket who is given the option to choose photography over drugs and violence. On the other hand, Hubert from La Haine puts in all his efforts when creating a gym for youths to release their frustration and he is not rewarded for it, instead it is burnt down by those who he thought would use it. The fact that the film ends with Hubert pointing a gun at a non-uniform officer almost implies that he has given up on his dreams and accepted that there is no hope for him.

La Haine and City of God both portray negative representations of the female gender. In COG, women are only represented in terms of sex and men are shown to have complete power and control over them, additionally shown through actions such as rape. A scene which highlights this is the one in which Knockout Ned’s girlfriend is raped and he is forced to hear her screams, objectifying women because they are being used by men to let out their built-up emotions and frustrations and they are portrayed as weak because they do not fight back. Even the woman who has a decent job as a journalist is shown in terms of sex but this time, to have control and manipulation over the male gender because she uses sex to manipulate Rocket and meet her needs, illustrating that women can only gain power through their sexual hold. In La Haine, there is an underrepresentation of women as they are barely seen in the film at all, and the only female characters we are really introduced to are the protagonist’s families who are only seen inside their flats. This follows the domestic housewife stereotype, suggesting that their only role is to look after the home and family whereas the men are seen everywhere, their roles including: policemen, protagonists, criminals and youths- representing them as the superior gender who have more power over women. However, the males in both films still struggle with their sense of masculinity and they find it difficult to maintain it. To be seen as a ‘man’, you have to be brave, violent and able to handle a gun. In COG, generations follow in their elder’s footsteps, using guns and drugs and planning murders. Maybe they feel as if they have to do this in order to be seen as a man by society because if they don’t, they may be seen as weak by the other youths. The character of Vinz in La Haine struggles with his masculinity and this is shown through the scene in which he cannot bring himself to shoot a skinhead and he is disappointed in himself because he is aware that he is coming across as ‘un-masculine’ to his friends.

There is a definite contrast in diversity regarding these two films. In La Haine, the three protagonists are all of different ethnicities: Vinz is Jewish, Hubert is black African-French and Said is Arab African-French whereas in City of God, it could be said that there is an overrepresentation of black people because the vast majority of the characters are black youths. I find it interesting that both of the directors for these films are white and could fit into the categories of our dominant ideology. Due to this, some people have accused them of exploiting the people in their films and the way they represent them because they go on to make large profits which do not have any impact on those living in the favelas or places with poverty. However on the other side of the argument, it gives those who are more fortunate the opportunity to see what the lives are/were really like for those living in poverty and there are provided with a sense of realisation that could result in a change of heart.

The visual style and cinematography of La Haine and City of God strongly contrasts, disregarding the similar mise-en-scene. La Haine is in black and white to enhance the realism and the film more gritty, taking the audience away from the beautiful scenery of France. City of God is shot in full-colour however at the beginning of the film, the colour pallet is bright and vibrant but as the narrative develops, the colours become duller- possibly representing how the social and political issues are slowly taking over and draining out the life in the city of god. The camera shots are still and long in La Haine which to me, allowed a greater and more intense focus on the characters, whereas handheld camera movement is used in COG which enhances how rough it is in the favelas and makes it feel more like a documentary.

Overall, I loved both La Haine and City of God because they had very strong themes and the huge sense of realism really enhanced the viewing experience. They clearly share many differences and similarities regarding representations, visual style, production, social and political context and of course, poverty, power and conflict. I would rate them both 8/10.