La Haine

The morning after a destructive rioting on a French housing estate, three youths involved – Jewish Vince, Arab Said and black Hubert – freefall through the aftermath as the community struggles to pick itself up. A gun was lost by a policeman, the gym the reformed Hubert built was trashed and Said is in bad need of a haircut. The 3 leads perform ably, particularly Vincent Cassel as the livewire yet inexperienced Vince, who does a pretty good De Niro impression when needed. There’re some nice comic touches – the three struggle to hot wire a car before realising no-one can drive – and the ending is abrupt, shocking yet completely fits.

Choose film 8/10