A Prophet (Un prophete) (2009)
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Reviews Counted: 145
Fresh: 141 | Rotten: 4
Featuring an impressive star turn by newcomer Tahar Rahim, A Prophet is a French gangster film filled with arresting, immediate details.
Average Rating: 8.3/10
Critic Reviews: 37
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 1
Featuring an impressive star turn by newcomer Tahar Rahim, A Prophet is a French gangster film filled with arresting, immediate details.
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Average Rating: 4.1/5
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Movie Info
An impressionable and vulnerable Arabic man gets thrust into a hellish prison, and ironically discovers greater opportunities for success than he ever possessed outside of the bars, in this violent melodrama from French succès d'estime Jacques Audiard (The Beat That My Heart Skipped). Tahar Rahim stars as Malik El Djebena, a petty criminal incarcerated for six years. Once inside and subjected to all of the standard brutalities that most prisoners endure, he is quickly educated in the "ways" of
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Cast
-
Tahar Rahim
Malik El Djebena -
Niels Arestrup
César Luciani, César L... -
Adel Bencherif
Ryad -
Reda Kateb
Jordi le gitan -
Hichem Yacoubi
Reyeb -
Jean-Philippe Ricci
Vettorri -
Gilles Cohen
Prof -
Antoine Basler
Pilicci -
Leïla Bekhti
Djamila -
Pierre Leccia
Sampierro -
Foued Nassah
Antaro -
Jean-Emmanuel Pagni
Santi -
Frederic Graziani
Chef detention -
Slimane Dazi
Lattrache
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A Prophet (Un prophete) Trailer & Photos
All Critics (145) | Top Critics (37) | Fresh (144) | Rotten (4) | DVD (4)
A movie that stands with the best prison thrillers from any country; a film that vividly illustrates the connection between prison and the violent, radical form of Islam that keeps much of Europe on edge.
Top CriticAudiard has talked about the prospects of a sequel to A Prophet. With the foundation he has built here, it would be a welcome one.
The success of Malik is sheer American dream via France: Anyone can make it if they try hard enough. Make it at what, of course, is always the question.
Audiard never overplays the new experiences facing Malik, be they violent or touching. Yet his tender regard for our complicated hero shines through.
The film never succumbs to the pitfalls of the prison-movie genre, and there's something poetic about how Audiard, in the midst of all this violence, manages to make a punch to the stomach seem like the most violent act of all.
A really satisfying, meaty film.
This is a brutal prison crime drama that shows the transformation of a small-time criminal into a big-time crime boss.
A movie that has more in common with Jean Genet than Frantz Fanon, but there's enough insights into white colonial domination of Arab peoples to make this a cut above the standard prison melodrama. Highly recommended.
Like Goodfellas without the visual fizz, or Scarface played straight, this is, quite simply, one of the greatest prison films ever made.
An epic-styled comment on the practical side of getting through modern life, with spirituality and loyalty playing side parts to gaining raw skill.
... a riveting portrait of a prison education.
...a journey of hard-fought survival told with an unforgettable verve and originality.
the rarest of crime films: One that turns us inside out with concern not only for Malik's physical safety, but for the safety of his soul
A cult classic in the making, Jacques Audiard's A Prophet receives a much better shake on DVD than its main character does in prison.
While A Prophet might lack the ambiguity and the moral complexity to make it a classic of its genre, it is an excellent work by most standards.
A taut prison drama by crime-flick specialist Jacques Audiard.
That rare film that tries to do too much, yet carries the heavy load of its themes with ease. Audiard dreams big, and his movie is unquestionably a classic crime film, because it transcends all of the conventions of the genre.
Revela-se trágico justamente por refletir uma triste realidade: a de que, antes de funcionar como centro de reabilitação, o sistema penitenciário atua principalmente como uma excepcionalmente perigosa faculdade do crime.
Un intenso, brutal y formidable relato sobre el ascenso criminal dentro de la cárcel como forma de supervivencia. Excepcional labor protagónica del casi debutante Tahar Rahim. No suele abundar cine como éste; el crimen sería perdérselo.
Un prophète s'élève au même niveau que ces grands films auxquels il sera inévitablement comparé tout en parvenant à s'en dissocier pour imposer ses propres méthodes.
Unsentimental and amoral, Jacques Audiard's A Prophet is a French gangster/prison thriller that nearly lives up to the flattery...
For the most part, this tough-minded tale maintains its distinctive edge.
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Latest News on A Prophet (Un prophete)
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March 2, 2010:
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Foreign Titles
- Ein Prophet (DE)
- Un prophète (FR)
