Blog Post: La Haine

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/03/la-haine-film-sequel-20-years-on-france

In this article, the author, Andrew Hussey, goes to the banlieue where La Haine was filmed 20 years later after the movie was released. When the movie was released people living in the banlieue felt it was an accurate portrayal of their life and what they experienced in terms of their interactions with the police. They said that the movie gave a voice to people that the rest of France has forgotten. Hussey went into the same banlieue that the movie was filmed in to see the differences after 20 years. He has Abdel Moulah Bouloudji, who was featured in La Haine, show him around. They talk about how despite the big impact the movie made, in terms of real systemic change in this community, not much was made. For this reason, many of the people in the banlieue believed the movie was made as a way to show them off without having the intention of making actual change. Hussey believed that for this reason, it would be important to make a La Haine 2. Hussey asks how a second La Haine would be different than the first one. He speaks to Gilles Favier, who points out the importance of the friendship between Hubert, Said, and Vinz. The three come from all different backgrounds, and Abdel believes that this relationship could not exist today. He says that since the movie was made there was been more separation by race in the banlieue. He attributes this to the rise of political Islam since 1995, which was something not addressed in the original film at all.
I found it very interesting that after learning not much change had happened, the logical conclusion that was drawn was to make another film like La Haine. The original movie did cause a lot of controversies and shed light on the riots that took place in the suburbs, however, it obviously did not result on a lot of social and political change. Both Hussey and Kossovitz believe that because there was not a change there should be another movie, however, the first movie did not result in change.