Darwin behind barsBy John DeSando, WCBE's "It's Movie Time," "Cinema Classics," and "On the Marquee"
A Prophet is a French 2009 Oscar nominee for best foreign language film that deserves that praise as a study of the Darwinian jungle a gritty prison can be and the way to survive even in the face of overpowering power plays.
Nineteen year old Malik (Tahir Rahim) does big time for the first time in a French prison run by Corsicans and threatened by Muslims. After doing a requisite murder ordered by the Corsicans, he learns how to become a leader himself and even set up his life for the sweet hereafter prison.
The film is entirely too long but absorbing as a deconstruction of the culture. It is a character study of Malik satisfying in its claustrophobic framing and unforgiving close-ups. Malik becomes a smooth Harvey Keitel, and the film itself is grim enough to make Birdman of Alcatraz look like Mamma Mia!
John DeSando teaches film at Franklin University and co-hosts WCBE 90.5's It's Movie Time, Cinema Classics, and On the Marquee, which can be heard streaming at http://publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/ppr/index.shtml and on demand at http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wcbe/arts.artsmain Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.RR.com