Un prophète

I must've read about this movie somewhere and had wanted to watch it for some time now. The chance came along last Friday night. After watching Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs with the kids (and getting them to go to bed), I was ready to get into something serious.

Well, Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup and friends definitely didn’t disappoint.

Without giving too much of the plot away, A Prophet has got nothing to do with religion. It has so-called Muslims in it and I think the Union Corse thugs are nominally Catholic but that’s about it. The movie is an in-your-face gangster film. OK, it lacks the suits and sophistication of the Godfather, is not as hip as Guy Ritchie’s offerings, definitely not as clear-cut as Goodfellas and is definitely not as gangsta-certified as Scarface.

It’s just a very good, rags to riches gangster flick. Obviously, being a movie about gangsters, there’s violence all around. Oh, and it’s in a combination of French, Corsican and Arabic so, if you don’t like reading subtitles, too bad. Watch it anyway.

And, before you complain that there are no scooters in it, I can confirm that the only thing close to a scooter in the film is Brahim Lattrache’s bike. Sorry, if you want scooters, go watch Quadrophenia instead.

Seriously, watch it.