Many
films spring to mind. I have nostalgic choices and ones based on
favourite performances (Dreyfuss in The
Goodbye Girl,
Cotillard in Rust
and Bone,
Shoenaerts in Bullhead),
but the film that sucker-punched me on its first viewing is Jacques
Audiard's A
Prophet.
It's a frontrunner in contemporary cinema and ruins me every time I
watch it. I went to see it with a couple of friends who wrote it off
as being "violent' and "too long". I got that it was
brutal and relentless but at the heart of the film is triumph and
defiance. Malik El Djebena's (Tahar Rahim) departure from timid to
invulnerable is effortless; Rahim is staggeringly good in the role.
His character would never have behaved the way he does were he not in
prison, and because of that he emerges a hero despite the heinous
things he's forced to do. And I love a broken hero.
As
an audience member the relationship between Malik and Cesar Luciana
(Niels Arestrup) is terrifying but engrossing. From an actor's
perspective the central performances are flawless. From a girl who
grew up watching gangster movies it ticks that box too. I'd seen
Audiard's work before and been wowed, but, for me, A
Prophet
is his masterpiece. Audiard does't even use an overbearing score to
manipulate us. Though I do always relish the burst of Nas in the
kitchen/montage scene, reflecting Malik's change. The hero succeeds
and the baddie crumples, which, after over two hours of anguish is
just what the audience/me needs. The story, Audiard's understanding
of what makes the perfect performance (I truly believe they are
perfect) and the acute intimacy of the handheld shooting firmly
cements A
Prophet
as my film to die for.
Rebecca Callard
Rebecca Callard is an English actress based in London. Her credits include The Borrowers, Robin Hood, The Grand and Blackout with Christopher Eccleston. Rebecca can be seen next year with Michael Smiley and Steven Graham in the film Orthodox (@Orthodox_film) and in Simon Stephen's (@StephenSimon) play Blindsided.
You can follow Rebecca on Twitter here.
You can follow Rebecca on Twitter here.
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