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Rarely has a European Director achieved such a high level of potency in only his second feature, as Jacques Audiard has with directing ‘A Prophet’.
Winning the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2009, this is a film that demonstrates an interesting premise of following a prisoner sentenced for six years throughout his time and over nearly two hours, his transference from unknown inmate.
Being even accessible to an audience who may not find subtitled dialogue easy to follow, this is a film that remains sparse with translations at first, but is so well acted and directed with realism, that the entirety of subjects covered are well worth attention.
Expertly written story-line
Directed through interiors of a French prison system, that would cause even the hardest film cynic to ponder that the sets are as real as possibly believed, ‘A Prophet’ finds the lead character in such an extremely difficult dilemma immediately, that the initial hook to note what will become of him, is expertly and unusually written.
With subtle and deliberate criticism of the French prison system throughout the film’s entirety, as well as an absence of reason as to character explanations, except for the audience to merely accept the story and the hierarchy of prisoners appearing, ‘A Prophet’ does achieve a staggering amount through it’s delivery.
Outshines others
As a director of immense bravery, Jacques Audiard even manages to reveal films such as ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ or even ‘The Godfather’ as mere Hollywood efforts, the latter used as comparison to the subject matter of Italian criminality only.
Fascinating for avoiding the unfolding of sympathy towards the character inmates within the prison setting and transferring the viewer into the realms of believability, ‘A Prophet’ is not merely a prison film, but perhaps dark and foreboding enough to suggest that its lead character makes a choice to descend, which causes ‘A Prophet’ to be worthy to promote discussion.
