Description
This is a description of the film "A Prophet," which is a French film directed by Jacques Audiard. The film follows a petty criminal, Malik El Djebena, who is imprisoned for six years and is quickly educated in the ways of the prison. He becomes friends with the head Corsican thug, Cesar Luciani, and is offered an ultimatum to kill an Arab inmate, Reyeb. Malik succeeds in killing Reyeb and earns the respect of the other prisoners. However, Malik's power and confidence threaten to outstrip Cesar's own insistence on submission and obedience at all costs.
An impressionable and vulnerable Arab man gets thrust into a hellish prison, and ironically discovers greater opportunities for success than he ever possessed outside of the bars, in this violent melodrama from emerging French master filmmaker Jacques Audiard.
Tahar Rahim stars as Malik El Djebena, a petty criminal incarcerated for six years. Once inside and subjected to all of the standard brutalities that most prisoners endure, he is quickly educated in the ways of the prison, an institution torn violently between gangs of Corsicans and Arabs.
The head Corsican thug, Cesar Luciani, offers Malik an ultimatum: either he rubs out an Arab inmate named Reyeb, or he himself dies. Not only does Malik succeed with the hit, he earns the begrudging respect of the other prisoners, and -- after securing several days' release for good behavior -- uses off-time to forge a deeper and more multi-layered network of criminal ties than he ever dreamed possible.
But as his own power and confidence grow, they threaten to outstrip Cesar's own insistence on submission and obedience at all costs.
In French with English subtitles.
Related Products
