Reeling: A Prophet

Listen, I saw The Hurt Locker. It was amazing and totally worthy of winning that best picture Oscar. Moreover, I’m sure El Secreto de Sus Ojos is a great movie too, although I have yet to personally see it.

But, in my mind, if Kanye had walked up during Kathryn Bigelow’s acceptance speech and pushed Martin and Baldwin to the ground to say: “I’m really happy for you Kathryn and I’mma let you finish — but Jacques Audiard’s movie A Prophet was one of the best movies of all time! of all time!!!!”

I probably would have not behooved him, because fictional Kanye meme is right — despite being nominated for best foreign film and not even winning his own category, I truly believe Audiard has made a movie for the ages.

Even though it nearly won the Palme D’or at Cannes last year, me and a friend walked into a late night showing of A Prophet last Sunday to see a completely empty theatre. There was one other, lonely individual in the room. Later on, another brave soul would join us right as the lights dimmed.

Two and a half hours later, four guys walked out of the only cinema in Toronto showing this movie with our minds thoroughly and utterly blown.

Exiting onto the streets afterwards, my friend and I talked feverishly with one of our fellow audience members (meaning I surveyed 75 per cent of the viewers at the screening) about what an amazing film it was. We all bonded instantly over the secret our de facto private screening revealed: A Prophet is an almost indescribably good movie.

To find an apt analogy without simply tossing out adjectives, A Prophet is to prison movies as The Wire is to television cop shows. To say both blow preconceived notions out of the water would be, frankly, doing both an understated disservice.

Although it subscribes to some classic storytelling conventions, Audiard’s film never feels rote. Part of this is because, if taken superficially as just a prison movie, it would still be the best prison movie ever made. At an epic running time of two and a half hours though, the layers of the film are as numerous and nuanced as a Joyce or Dickens novel. Few films approach A Prophet‘s sheer ambition; even fewer actually pull it off.

Audiard captures the visceral, claustrophobic atmosphere of prison; the gritty moral ambiguity of crime and socio-economic class; the twists and turns of a great caper; the tautness of a classic thriller; the pathos of religion and ideology; the philosophy of art; the emotion of the human condition; the epic satisfaction of a heroic journey; the ebullience of life’s minutiae; the nuance of our own code of ethics.

A Prophet is nearly all things to all people. Yes the action will keep you riveted and the story is, to use a cliche, a tour de force. But the French film also forces the audience to dig deeper, analyzing the films symbolism and the commentary long after the credits have rolled.

The only demographic who might not revel in its awesomeness might be individuals not fond of graphic violence or swearing in multiple languages. Basically, if you are incredibly sensitive, really enjoyed The Proposal, do not understand male entertainment or all of the above, you may not be as impressed by this film. But it will certainly still entertain you – the writing and acting are both undeniably strong.

There are no weak performances in this movie and lead Tahar Rahim arduously carries the audience through every dirty crevice of of his travails and triumphs.

It may not have won an Oscar, but in my estimation, A Prophet contains all the best qualities of The Hurt Locker and simply takes it to another level — one that forces you to consider not just the issues of the characters, but questions about your own life and those around you writ large.

Simply put, to me it was the movie of the year. Everyone should see this film.