La Haine

I'm a sucker for movies/shows about class struggle and social inequality, and La Haine is no exception! Specifically, this film explores the paradoxical nature of the origin of violence on the streets. The youth on the streets is caught in a 'trap': they have the choice to either be violent against one another and the police and risk to get arrested for it; or they can choose to be pacifistic and still get harassed by the police and by others in the street because they are easier targets. This makes that it seems as if violence and agression is not only rewarded, but even necessary for sirvival. Hence the status quo feels impossible to escape from, forming a ticking time bomb of agression that will sooner or later explode. And as the film states beautifully: meanwhile as long as the bomb has not exploded yet, society will knowingly choose to look the other way and keep saying "so far so good!"... I have to say though, imo the first hour was good but not great. It was only the impeccable ending that really blew me away and left me staring at the screen for 5 minutes with my mouth open