Hate Irony as Meaning in La Haine

Hate

Irony as Meaning in La Haine

Mathieu Kassovitz's (1995) film La Haine deals with very controversial and impassioned issues that were relevant in France at the time of the film's production and remain very much at the forefront of French minds today. Police violence, racism, and what can best be termed classism -- a belief in the fundamental inferiority of individuals that live on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder -- are rampant amongst French society generally and in the minds of the police specifically, and this film illustrates this without pulling any punches. At the same time, La Haine does not simply provide one side of the story, but rather is deeply reflective of the goods, bads, and in-betweens that exist on all sides of the issue. Kassovitz blends poignancy and comedy in an extremely ironic way to tell this story, and ultimately it is through the ironic features of the film that we come to understand its central meaning: hate is part of a never-ending and fatalistic cycle, that can never be ended or alleviated by greater or more effective hate; hate becomes its own destiny.

Cinematic Examples

There are many examples of irony throughout La Haine that help to demonstrate its full meaning. The fact that the entire film is shot in black and white is an indicator of the way Kassovitz is playing with his audience -- every character and event in the story is highly colored and not easily defined, yet the black and white world of the film seems to belie such coloration. The division and sense of clarity that this gives the film visually is ironic in light of the ambiguities of the story and characters.

Another element that appears continuously in La Haine that can be seen as highly ironic is the shot of the ticking clock that is interspersed at various points throughout the film. This gives the plot a sense of anticipation, purpose, and impending climax, none of which are fully realized in the film; even the moment of climax that does exist is almost immediately over-ridden by a new ambiguity, as Vinz's death gives way to an unknown gunshot and, presumably, another unknown death. The clock can be seen as counting down the last hours of Vinz's life, given this moment, but for the entirety of the film leading up to this act the clock seems to be promising something else -- a time of change, perhaps, or of an action that will truly alter the course of society and the main characters' lives. Instead, all it is counting down to is more violence and the perpetuation of exactly the same issues presented in the film.

The characters themselves also have highly ironic and discordant features that help to create Kaassovitz's message. Vinz repeatedly uses his finger as a gun and pretends to shoot people -- in his mirror, at the movie theatre, etc. -- but ultimately decides to give the gun he has to Hubert, showing his violent stance to be little more than showmanship, though showmanship that he himself believed for a time. His showmanship is also accepted by the little boy in the movie theatre, however, who imitates Vinz and so catches on t the idea of violence even though it is something Vinz ultimately denounces. This illustrates perhaps the ultimate irony of all in the film: though Vinz begins to realize that hate and violence cannot provide answers, it is only by being too caught up in the violent web of society that he can realize this, and then it is too late.

Others' Observation

Film critics have also noted many moments of deeply ironic meaning in La Haine, including the choice of black-and-white filming and the imitation of Vinz's finger-shooting by the boy in the theatre (Papamichael 2004; Earp n.d.). Another highly interesting and ironic element of the film has to do with its method of production, however: during the filming, Kassovitz and his primary actors actually lived in the housing projects where the majority of the film was shot, and many of the small and supporting roles were cast as non-actors directly from the people already living in the projects and surrounding neighborhoods (Nesbit 2008). In scenes such as the rooftop scene, the director essentially set up a fake representation of a real gathering that might have occurred, allowing people to step out of their lives to pretend to be…themselves. This also represented a coming together of various elements of French society that quite explicitly do not come together according to the message of the film.

Papamichael (2004) also notes that the pace of the film seems ironic given the ultimate plot. Most of the scenes move forward at a fairly leisurely pace, without a great deal for real action occurring, yet when the action does occur -- whether in the form of plot elements or simple cinematographic moves -- it is sudden, compelling, and quickening (Papamichael 2004). The juxtaposition of such seeming laziness amidst discussions and occurrences of extreme violence is at once ironic and truly representative of the ay these characters experience life. Their very life is a set of ironies and ambiguities, in other words.