A Prophet is a movie that really gives one a very dark and somewhat disturbing picture of prison life. Even if the story is pretty clearly fiction maybe something that doesn't make sense, the settings and representation of the prison scenes feel very realistic. However does this make it a great film? I had heard how awesome it was, that it had got several awards and praised by critics. Still I can't help but feel a bit disappointed.
So the technical aspects are just brilliant. The feel one pretty soon gets is that this is not the usual prison movie experience. The scenes are so dirty and brutal to the level that one might get a unpleasant feel when seeing this picture of prison life. The violence is just as though, bloody and brutal. Very impressive, this is not a film for the weak.The sounds and music contribute well to create the right feel. Still the music is not that special on it's own, I feel it's just the same over and over so afterwards I can't recall any of it.
So the outside of the movie is just brilliant but still A Prophet doesn't grip hold of me like this kind of dramatic films should. The problem is that the story just feels far away from me as a viewer. Quite soon into the film it starts to get a bit hard to keep track of what is going on, but it is not because it's flawed story telling, sadly the reason is that the plot does just not grip my interest. Soon I'm just watching it with one eye. The acting is also very good, Niels Arestrup was great. Though just like the plot I get no real relation to the characters which I guess should be blamed on the script. Some of the scenes where some character development is supposed to be done just feel kind of forced. When the ending comes I not much more than shrug the shoulders and consider it was a well made movie but nothing much more. This also brings me to the running time around 150 min which feel kind of long and even more so since I have a hard time keeping my interest up anyway.
Maybe I'm alone in feeling A Prophet is somewhat overrated. It's technically brilliant and delivers a impressive experience. Still it lacks underneath in giving a interesting story and characters. It is a good film but it's not very good. 7/10
So the technical aspects are just brilliant. The feel one pretty soon gets is that this is not the usual prison movie experience. The scenes are so dirty and brutal to the level that one might get a unpleasant feel when seeing this picture of prison life. The violence is just as though, bloody and brutal. Very impressive, this is not a film for the weak.The sounds and music contribute well to create the right feel. Still the music is not that special on it's own, I feel it's just the same over and over so afterwards I can't recall any of it.
So the outside of the movie is just brilliant but still A Prophet doesn't grip hold of me like this kind of dramatic films should. The problem is that the story just feels far away from me as a viewer. Quite soon into the film it starts to get a bit hard to keep track of what is going on, but it is not because it's flawed story telling, sadly the reason is that the plot does just not grip my interest. Soon I'm just watching it with one eye. The acting is also very good, Niels Arestrup was great. Though just like the plot I get no real relation to the characters which I guess should be blamed on the script. Some of the scenes where some character development is supposed to be done just feel kind of forced. When the ending comes I not much more than shrug the shoulders and consider it was a well made movie but nothing much more. This also brings me to the running time around 150 min which feel kind of long and even more so since I have a hard time keeping my interest up anyway.
Maybe I'm alone in feeling A Prophet is somewhat overrated. It's technically brilliant and delivers a impressive experience. Still it lacks underneath in giving a interesting story and characters. It is a good film but it's not very good. 7/10