Australian Penthouse

A PROPHET
Director:  Jacques Audiard
Stars:  Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif
Sony

Review:  Suzan Ryan

IT’S obvious why this French film won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival; it’s a corker.  Forget Hollywood’s overly polished prison dramas, this is the real deal: a character study of 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (a riveting performance by newcomer Rahim), sentenced to a six-year stint inside that charts his progression from naïve boy to wary and wily man via the decisions he makes, the alliances he creates, the mistakes he must deal with and, finally, his emergence to rejoin the populace as a man transformed.

Malik is part Arab, part Corsican and accepted by neither ethnicity, instead his mixed heritage earns him the attention of César Luciani (Arestrup), head of the Corsican gang, who strong-arms the terrified Malik into murdering an Arab due to testify in an associate’s trial.  In exchange, Malik is offered protection by the Corsicans, along with the role of errand boy and general shit-kicker.  However, Malik’s unique status allows him to mix freely between gangs and allegiances, and to form his own partnerships, both inside the prison and out, with unexpected results.

Withholding judgement on the prison system, prisoners, redemption and other hokey themes, A Prophet is a mature, interesting, violent and exciting movie that will restore your enthusiasm to part with $15.