A Prophet

Director Jacques Audiard's last film, The Beat That My Heart Skipped, convincingly examined the deep desire of Thomas (Romain Duris) to escape a criminal life by developing his more gentle artistic nature. This scenario is flipped around in A Prophet; where Malik (Tahar Rahim) must embrace his malicious demons in order to escape the clutches of a violent gang.

Portrayal of gang culture often plays out as revamped western, with guns blazing and lines delivered with a cool hand and hot head. Whilst still a work of fiction, the main appeal of A Prophet is its dressed-down realism, giving an outsider perspective on the drive of an individual drawn by necessity into an unglamorous and unappealing lifestyle. In one of the hardest to watch murder scenes, Malik must slit the throat of a recently befriended Arab inmate. What makes the scene so uncomfortable isn't so much the gore, but the graphic focus on the struggle and resistance of both the murderer and victim.

After being attacked and robbed on his first day in prison, Malik is noticed by Corsican gang leader César (Niels Arestrup) who in offering him protection gives Malik a choice: kill or die. César is very much the Godfather figure; he has the guards paid off and enjoys the various perks this involves. Under his wing, Malik is given protection, but as an Arab is both rejected by the Corsicans and also by the Arabs for working for the Corsicans.

Malik's lucky break comes when a change in French prison policy means all the Corsicans bar César are shipped out. With the contacts he has made on his various errands, he sets about manipulating his rise to gangland prominence, winning the favour of the Arabs and orchestrating the demise of César.

As it is the habit of Jacques Audiard to cast renowned actors in the lead roles, it is something of an inspired choice to cast the relatively unknown Tahar Rahim, and there is something of a parallel between the actor and character's rise to prominence. Niels Arestrup, who plays a similar role as Thomas's father in The Beat That My Heart Skipped, is astounding as brutal gang leader César, a role he grasps with theatrical vigour.

Click here to read an interview with A Prophet's lead actor, Tahar Rahim.