Cinema is Dope » Genre: Prophecy

A Prophet (2009) – New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day – 22 New Images

blake — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:28:18 +0000

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Monday, July 27, 2009

With this latest batch of 22 images this brings the total of images from Cannes Grand Prix winner A Prophet to 27. This has been to this date my favorite film of 2009. A Prophet is riveting from beginning to end, unlike any prison film you’ve ever seen before and with break out performances that keep you deeply immersed in what is happening on screen.

Synopsis:
Condemned to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena cannot read nor write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts. He is 19 years old. Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang who rules the prison, he is given a number of “missions” to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader’s confidence in the process.

But Malik is brave and a fast learner, daring to secretly develop his own plans.

Photo By:
Roger Arpajou

Image Source:
Official stills used in the original international release. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

A Prophet (2009) – New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day – Jacques Audiard & Tahar Rahim

blake — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 14:34:07 +0000

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Sunday, July 5, 2009

A Prophet was the Grand Prix winner at Cannes (details) and also happens to be my favorite film to date of 2009. The timeless and engrossing type of rise to power crime films like Scarface (Hawks or De Palma) or Godfather seem few and far between. A Prophet in my mind is in that rare category of crime films of that ilk. Whereas I found it to be particularly more bleak and human. Which is one way it separates itself from the recent glut of faux gritty yet highly glossy prison melodramas and one dimensional crime thrillers. Personally I can’t stand contemporary prison melodramas of any type or variety. They all just seem very overly calculating and artificial. Like wise, I didn’t go walk into A Prophet very optimistically at Cannes. By the time it was over and the end credits were rolling I was so completely absorbed in it that I forgot I was watching a movie. It was that involving! Every twist and turn had me more and more on the edge of my seat along for its ride. The human touches the film possesses in some ways reminds me of the rich characterization in Shawshank Redemption which give it this multi-layer quality of not watching real life actors go through the paces on screen but presenting us a vivid world of real and breathing characters who tight rope through life each day in the harsh prison life and its surrounding criminal enterprise tentacles. One part I’m still very impressed with is even though it presents a very realistic world it also has numerous surreal moments that flow perfectly into the editing of the film without every taking you out. On paper this should be distracting and jarring… yet somehow they weave it in and it works perfectly. Engrossing, rich and intoxicating with fumes of great cinema and all the qualities you hope any film walking into it would possess and rarely get, let alone contemporary crime films.

Synopsis:
Condemned to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena cannot read nor write. Arriving at the jail entirely alone, he appears younger and more fragile than the other convicts. He is 19 years old. Cornered by the leader of the Corsican gang who rules the prison, he is given a number of “missions” to carry out, toughening him up and gaining the gang leader’s confidence in the process.

But Malik is brave and a fast learner, daring to secretly develop his own plans.

Photo By:
Roger Arpajou

Image Source:
Official stills used in the original international release.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

A Prophet (2009) – New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day – Grand Prix Winner at the 62nd Cannes Film Festival

blake — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 01:47:06 +0000

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Monday, June 1, 2009

A Prophet comes from the same producers of Black, which many of you might remember from its bow at the recent SXSW sidebar of Fantastic Fest titles. By the time I made it out to Cannes this year I still hadn’t seen Black and found myself with friends up in the hills of Cannes, France overlooking the Riviera at the official party for A Prophet. I had missed the screenings of A Prophet up to that point but decided at the least I should check it out even though I didn’t at all want to see a gritty prison drama. It really didn’t seem like something I’d like. I don’t recall if it was the next day or two days later but I was coming out of the second screening aka 9:00 Salle Du and noticed a small line of people clamoring to get in to see A Prophet. They were being told it was full so I proceeded to walk on but stopped a couple of steps later as bizarrely people were still rushing up to wait in line. About a minute later they let in a flurry of people but I unfortunately didn’t make the cut. I was beginning to think my chances of seeing it just weren’t in the cards. Cut to minutes later when I notice in the daily screening program there is a screening in one of the smaller theaters that at a glance would have been very easy to miss. As luck would have it I made it in and the rest as they say is history.

I think I’ll leave a good portion of my thoughts on this movie for a full review (to be published later) but I will say that the more I reflect on it, the more and more I like it. I was nervous for days after the fest contemplating when the overall buzz and hype of Cannes itself was gone how it would still affect me and play out in on reflection and perhaps not to surprisingly I just keep liking it more and more. Although primarily billed as a prison drama it really is the classic criminal rise to power story and struggle we have seen in movies ranging from Howard Hawks Scarface to the Roaring Twenties. I can’t really recall any movie in recent memory that had that kind of structure void of contemporary pop culture mechanisms and stylization. A Prophet feels so undeniably authentic even while having several surreal moments dancing through it. It’s the kind of movie that will not only stay with you for years and years, it’s also one you will more than likely still remember seeing it for the first time years later and the experience it brought as it unfolded. The great movies make us escape to a degree we completely forget we are even watching a movie to begin with and this is one grand great crime epic that ranks up there with the very best. I cannot wait for Sony Pictures Classics to release this in North America so I can see it again.

Related Coverage:
::: Cinema is Dope: Best of the 62nd Cannes Film Festival

Caption:
Niels Arestrup as Cesar and Tahar Rahim as Malik in A Prophet.

Photo By:
Roger Arpajou

Image Source:
Official still that were used in the original international release of the film courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile

Knowing (2009) – New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day – Latest from Alex Proyas

blake — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 14:00:36 +0000

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New Cinema Wallpaper of the Day
Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Odd timing to post such pictures from this startling upcoming disaster film from Alex Proyas (Dark City) but just got these this morning and I’m very much interested to see how this one turns out. The early footage I’ve seen from Comic Con was flat out underwhelming yet I have great faith in Alex Proyas and that somehow he lands Nicolas Cage in a role he can sink his teeth into and shine. The fear of disaster seems to mark one of our greatest fears in this current generation of people living on this Earth which for some may push them to shy away from daily things and become more withdrawn and for others it hits a chord to fill each day they are alive with brimming passion to make the most of it.

I first met Mr. Proyas at the landmark Sitges Film Festival and found him to be incredibly relaxed and a very fun person to talk to about cinema, science fiction and film festivals (read my interview with him at Twitch). Haven’t run into him since then but I do remember introducing him to Matthew Vaughn (who did one of my all-time favorite films L4yer Cake) the last time I saw him. Never a dull moment on the film festival circuit and I’m sure that must have been one great meeting of the filmmaking minds.

Related Coverage:
::: Previous Alex Proyas Movie Wallpaper (Cinema is Dope)

Image Source:
Official still used in the original international release of the film.

Related Links:
::: IMDb Profile