Un Prophète is a French foreign language film and is a captivating production on the intricacies and affects prison system has on felons.
The film has received international appraisal for its uniqueness and level of detail.
Set within the confines of the prison system of France, Un Prophète vividly depicts the story of a vulnerable, young Arab teen who gets wrapped into a prison gang in order to survive behind bars.
Synopsis
Un Prophète tells the story of a 19 year-old boy named Malik who has a six year sentence for an unspecified crime.
Malik undergoes serious hardships including episodes of abuse, humiliation and isolation throughout his time in jail.
In order to survive, Malik is forced to become an agent for the prison's ruling gang and is pressured to commit the most dangerous type of crime - murder.
Throughout his time in prison Malik battles an internal struggle between right or wrong and fight or flight as he tries to deal with the ambiguity of being an Arab-Muslim under the employ of brutish, racist convicts.
Important Themes
Without giving away too much about the on-goings of the film, Un Prophète gives a look into how minorities are often victims of mistreatment and exploitation as a result of the prison system.
Rates of incarceration for people of colour in European prisons are outrageously prejudiced.
In France 70% of the prison population is Muslim, and a 2010 study states that if you are black in England and Wales you are three times as likely to be imprisoned.
It is clear that this is an ongoing global issue, not just an issue prevalent to the United States prison system which has the highest incarceration rate globally.
A 2013 study notes that the United States is representative of 4.4 percent of the global population, but they house 22 percent of the entire world's prisoners. The issue of inequality is discussed thoroughly throughout the film.
The main character is someone who doesn't fit your typical mould of an assassin. But Un Prophète describes the conditions in which one who is displaced and primed in a specific culture can wind up becoming a worrisome force.
Those who don't have usually become the pawns for those who do have. And this notion is explored at length throughout the entirety of the film.
Conclusion
All in all Un Prophète is a wonderfully written masterpiece. It explores much more than the makeup of a criminal.
It dives into the psyche of a criminal leader and their operatives; as well as depicting the hardships many people of colour undergo in the prison system.
Un Prophète will keep you engaged for the entire 155 minutes as you watch the main character question the difference between safety and survival.
