The Impact of 'La Haine', 'The City of God' and 'Once were Warriors' on an Audience!

The Impact of 'La Haine', 'The City of God' and 'Once were Warriors'

The impact of any film depends very much on film techniques because it emphasizes what the director wants and is trying to say. It also builds tension and warns the audience of what might happen. Through sound, cinematography and mis-en-scene the audience is able to have a greater understanding of the film without relying on dialogue or an actors’ performance to tell the story. It also makes the film visually interesting, keeping the audiences’ attention.

Each of my three films La Haine, City of God and Once were Warriors include potentially different cultures from which an English audience isn't used to seeing. Due to this it is important for the directors to show the audience everything without leaving room for misinterpretation, making the film techniques more important.

La Haine directed by Mathieu Kassovitz is a good example of the above. The film is split throughout by a clock to tell us a certain time. By doing this we can see that the film is set as a 24hr period of Vinz, Saїd and Hubert’s day. More importantly the use of the clock makes the film more realistic and adds to the documentary style. The audience can also see how much time the boys are wasting and that nothing in their day really amounts to anything. Interestingly, City of God directed by Fernando Mairelles is also divided but by separate stories which Rocket (the narrator) announces throughout the film. Again none of these are the same length and timing varies but by doing this, we can see how the individual stories link together to create a larger picture. For instance Knockout-Ned is introduced before his story is told later. Rocket believes he is ‘too cool’ to justify robbing, which is ironic as later Lil Zé rapes his girlfriend and kills some of his family members, this causes the gang war in the slums. Mairelles links everything together carefully to create an exciting and fast paced film. Each story is given a title ‘The Apartment’ or ‘The Tender Trio’, and is introduced carefully by Rocket. The film is ‘paused’ as Rocket’s voice-over introduces them, causing the audience to take note that this is another chapter to the story. Although these stories don’t always appear important they all link in carefully.

These ‘stories’ are an important aspect within all three films. In Once Were Warriors, Grace writes stories to give her hope and remind the audience that she still prides her education and has a chance to escape the poverty, however when she is rapped and her father destroys her book we realize she is doomed and will never be able to escape. In City of God the use of individual stories makes a complicated plot line more understandable. It also gives a personality to each character giving them much more depth and build. Even minor characters are given some background to spur their present actions. In La Haine stories are told but mostly to emphasis the emptiness and lack of purpose or things to do, for instance ‘the Old Man’s story’ has nothing to do with the plot or subject matter, apart from briefly stopping the boys from arguing. However other stories such as ‘Humbert’s story’ constitutes to a structuring device. This story in particular opens and closes the film with Humbert’s voice over telling us about a man who falls from the 50^th floor of a building and keeps saying ‘So far, so good...so far, so good...’ – “What matters is not the fall but the landing”, this contributes to the actual structure of the film. What matters is not the process but the ending result.

La Haine’s back and white imagery has also caused discussions with critics. The film was originally shot in colour but changed to black and white in post-production. To release a black and white film in 1995 was a real statement but by doing this Kassovitz de-romanticizes Paris and makes it appear more gritty. It also emphasis the social differences and class so the issues within the film are picked out more easily by the audience. Due to the location for the film being Paris which is usually associated with love it was important for Kassovitz to show its darker side to give the film a bigger impact and change people’s opinions of Paris. The use of the news reel images of the riots at the start contribute to a documentary style theme making the film more real and introduce key issues within the film such as: The unrest between young people and the police, the impact of violence and whether this is a similar view/example in the world. This is then in forced when we first see Saїd, who is spray painting his name onto the back of a police truck along with ‘Fuck the Police’. Saїd is obviously not a usual ‘criminal youth’ as he has written his name, showing the spread of influence among the young people. In City of God the slums are a separate world from the rest of ‘ordinary life’ and the police rarely involve themselves with slum life. Most are as corrupt as the slum leaders that rule the slums and in Once were Warriors, Beth distrusts the police and violence easily finds its way into their home. This is shown when the youngest child makes an imitation of a gun using his hands and pretends to shoot the polices’ retreating backs.

Camera work used throughout contributes in a number of ways, in La Haine close-ups are used to emphasis the documentary style. We also are given a clear idea of Vinz’s hot headed character in the ‘You talking to me?’ a homage to ‘Taxi Driver’. This scene adds to the ironic ending of Vinz’s death. By using close-ups and other shots such as point of view shots, makes the audience feel more involved. For instance, in City of God point of view shots are used when Lil Dice (later named Lil Zé) kills someone this makes us feel as if we are looking from the dying and dead’s view point. This also makes the scene more dramatic as the last thing they see is Lil Dice laughing maliciously as he kills people and continues to shoot them when they are down. In the ‘apartment’ scene we see Rocket entering and someone else knocking at the door, from two different angles, first from the door as Rocket enters and then from behind the occupants, this allows us to see a bigger view of the events including everyone’s actions and movements. This allows the audience to see clearly and accurately what happened with little room for misinterpretation. In Once were Warriors, high shots are used throughout to show a weaker character. When Grace is raped by ‘uncle’ Bully the camera looks down on Grace making her seem small and vulnerable. The lighting also changes as Bully invades the room, briefly blocking out the light. A teddy bear is also visible again emphasizing her innocence and youth. Another high shot is used earlier in the film to show the destruction from another of Jake’s drunken parties. By using such a high shot, the audience is looking down on the characters that have surrended to the drink. It also emphasis the effect on the children and the impact of this influence.

The directors use mis-en-scene within their films and this has different uses e.g. in La Haine the ‘gun’ symbolises violence. Vinz’s gun is a cops gun signifying all their mistakes and ‘cock-ups’ but for Vinz the gun means/is a patriarchal power and is a symbol of masculinity. Due to it being ‘lost’ it gives motivation to the film. In City of God the symbols of power are also very masculine, with few women present in the film, this is understandable and those women present are treated with violence. The guns, drugs and money all create ‘respect’, or so it appears. Those who have and use these have power but violence comes with this power. This is showed when Lil Zé takes over the drug rackets, we are showed this quickly with no dialogue accept the non-diagetic sound of Rocket’s voice-over. The camera follows from above quickly and efficiently to show the speed and ease of the operation. Jake in Once were Warriors is nicknamed Jake ‘the muss’ for his violent out bursts which have gained him respect throughout the community. His fists are a great symbol of this violence which Beth accuses him of bring violence into their home, “You’re still a slave Jake, a slave to your fists!” Grace’s book represents escape and functions as the evidence to uncover Bully. Again in City of God, the camera represents escape for Rocket however the camera is frequently present when death occurs. It first becomes visible when Shaggy dies and Rocket first sees the camera. When Benny gives Rocket a camera, he dies soon after and Rocket makes his name with the death of the gang members using the camera, he never truly escapes the violence.

The sound in La Haine is mostly there to appear diagetic and natural with certain sounds such as trains hissing, car horns and gunshots being emphasised to create tension and increase the expectancy of violence. The lyrics for the music are very political such as Bob Marley etc, emphasising the conflicts and what people are fighting against. This contributes to the realism of the film. When Jake becomes angry in Once were Warriors the sound of the wind wailing is audible warning us that Jake is becoming violent, for instance when he discovers that it is Bully’s fault Grace hanged herself. The sound track at the beginning of the film is upbeat and pulsing as men lift weights in the sunlight, a clear symbol of the importance of masculinity. The music is most peacefully when Beth and Jake take the children for a picnic and Beth reminiscences about the past. This scene is very calm and peaceful until Jake interrupts and the moment is shattered, this shows Jake is uncomfortable talking about the past. The soundtrack for City of God mixes a variety of existing period songs e.g. Brazilian funk and rock, with other music that re-works the traditional samba. By doing this we understand that these are present situations and issues. Sometimes the music isn’t very obvious and gives the film an appeal of intelligence. The lyrics also add to the complexity of the film and characters for instance when the gangsters are changing their clothes and hairstyles “Eu you desdizer aquilo tudo que eu lhes disse antes/I’m going to unsay everything I said to them before” is played during the scene giving more depth to the situation. The lighter and happier samba songs are more associated with Rocket emphasising the contrast between Rocket’s life and the bloodshed surrounding him.

The choice of language was an important decision by Kassovitz and Meirelles as by choosing to keep it within their own languages the majority of people have to use subtitles. An English audience wouldn’t necessarily need the use of dialogue to understand what was happening but the films lose some of their intensity and often the humours aspects would be missed, this lightens the films as well as making the characters more human. The importance of word changing in La Haine would also be missed for instance when Saїd changes the ‘World is yours’ to the ‘World is ours’ and when ‘man’ has been changed to ‘society’ at the end for Hubert’s story which is repeated. This change of words and use of language is very important but appears to have no influence as the ending of La Haine shows because ‘society continues to repeat itself’. Beth’s own cultural language of Maori becomes a stronger influence within the film as the characters gain strength for instance Boogie (Mark) is able to release his anger using Maori and later Beth is strong enough to return to her ‘home’. This also allows comparison to her situation with Jake and gives us more understanding as to how Beth came to be in her situation.

In conclusion all the films depend on their film techniques and directors decisions to ‘tell’ the stories in full. By doing this they show the audience a clear and in depth view of the characters and their situations as well as putting across the directors views so we understand their point of view clearly. All these films have very pressing, dangerous and potentially hurtful subject matters that must be addressed fully to justify presenting them to an audience.