Un Prophte (A Prophet)
The IMDB summary:
SPOILERS! (Click to view)
Nineteen year-old Franco-Arab Malik El Djebena is just starting his six year prison sentence in Brcourt. Although he has spent the better part of his life in juvenile detention, this stint is his first in an adult prison. Beyond the division of Corsicans and Muslims in the prison (the Corsicans who with their guard connections rule what happens in the prison), he has no known friends or enemies inside. He is just hoping to serve his time in peace and without incident, despite having no prospects once he's out of jail since he's illiterate and has no support outside of the prison. Due to logistics, the head of Corsican inmates, a sadistic mafioso named Csar Luciani, co-opts Malik as part of the Corsicans' activities, not only regarding what happens inside the prison, but also continued criminal activities outside. The innocent Malik has no idea what to do but cooperate. This move does not sit well with the other Corsicans, who only see Malik as a dirty Arab, and the Muslims who now mistrust him. But as time goes on, Malik works to save himself while in prison, while setting up his life post prison on his own terms. Both his demon and his salvation in prison is the specter of one of the first people he really got to know during his incarceration.
Finally had it come to my town and it's probably the best movie showing this month in my state. It beautifully utilizes multiple languages to illustrate modern social and cultural divides. Audiard even goes so far as to use dictionary-esque subtitles throughout the film when introducing key characters or plot points. Though a little on the long side, it keeps the pace with fantastic acting, intense and constant conflict, plus a healthy amount of violence and gore. The photography is simple but appropriately so with surrealistic dream and hallucination sequences in which Fontaine, the director of photography, goes a little wild and gets to strut his stuff. This is a hard movie to find but more than worth a watch especially if you're looking for something with a little bit of political and cultural relevance mixed with old-fashioned good-time movie fun and violence.
As to the Boondock Saints 2 rant, I couldn't find it on IMDB quotes. I had to transcribe the thing myself. I'll be using it as a Monologue audition piece for some shows soon.
I actually loved Boondock Saints 2. I felt that it was slow at times, and the flashback format of the backstory got a little irritating, but damn if Troy Duffy doesn't still write some seriously funny dialogue.
Romeo: "Hey, you don't know me... do these make me look gay?"
Arms Dealer: "You look like you might've seen one up close."