esrosedotblog

FINALE

I watched the second half of

A Prophet (2009)

today.

It is such a great movie.

See below for the earlier writeup.

Tehar Rahim, the "prophet". The name comes from his natural psychic ability. Nothing big and dramatic although there are some magical realism moments in the film. It is more his ability to psych out a situation and move with his intuition. He is very young and yet is able to see through the bullshit that is handed to him by the various prison factions who also have a piece of racket action on the outside. He finds ways to use everything to his advantage and to work the factions against each other, adding to his personal power one short step at a time. He does not always do this gently but he does have a great deal of natural ability which he discovers at almost the same time that we do. Very hard to convey for a young actor. He allows us to see into his soul.

This is a coming of age film of an underworld figure.

He is also very likable. He takes responsibility for his best friend's wife and child. He has very gentle moments with them. His other side.

He is a most interesting guy. With all of its prison stuff which is very convincing and engrossing this is also a character study movie.

His partner in this is the older "Don" of the prison, the head of the Corsican faction. Their relationship evolves too. This theme is Oedipal. The "dad" is Niels Arestrup a wonderfully aged actor who has great charisma and pride.

Labels: films