KCMETROPOLIS.org
Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

A 2010 Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee, A Prophet is a cinematic masterpiece of epic proportions that will stay with you long after you've left the theater. It's gripping storyline and superbly written characters make this film rank up with other prison drama classics like In The Name of The Father and Shawshank Redemption.

A Prophet begins when 19-year-old Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is checking into an adult prison for the first time to begin a 6-year sentence. Without any friends or family on the outside, and certainly no one on the inside, Malik, despite his capabilities for violence, is like a frightened deer caught in headlights.

Because he is half French and half Arab, Malik doesn't fit in with either the Arab prisoners or the Corsicans who control every aspect of prison life. Initially, all he wants to do is serve his time and to be left alone, but he is forced to work for the Corsicans when a brutal mafia boss, César Luciani (Niels Arestrup in a brilliant supporting performance) orders him to kill an Arab prisoner that he can't reach himself.


After committing a stomach churning murder, Malik falls under César's protection and gains increasing responsibilities within the Corsican family. As time goes on, the fresh-eyed juvenile gradually becomes a steel-eyed, calculating crime boss himself as the student becomes the master.

An instant classic, Director Jacques Audiard's A Prophet is emotionally raw and holds no punches. Nothing is glamorized or made overly sentimental. Its characters, although wonderfully developed, are truly bad people. His entire effort is also a brilliant dichotomy of the division between France's growing Arab population and its native one.

Rahim delivers a star-making performance that should have been worthy of an Oscar nomination. He pulls off his character's transformation with the ease of an actor who's been working at his craft for 50 years. Perhaps it's unfair to him to use such a lofty comparison, but Rahim's effort is reminiscent of a young DeNiro or Pacino. Hopefully this will be the beginning a long career for an actor who has tremendous potential.

On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, A Prophet receives an A.
    
A Prophet is rated R and has a running time of 126 minutes.

Now showing through April 8 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for show times.

Rio
7204 W. 80th St., Overland Park, KS
Visit www.fineartsgroup.com or call 913-383-8500 for more information.

By Michael D. Smith

Indie Film Editor

Michael D. Smith earned a Bachelor of Arts in history at College of the Ozarks in Point Lookout, Missouri followed by a Master of Arts in history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Inspired by such critics as Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, Michael started reviewing films in 1992 for College of the Ozarks's student-run newspaper. After returning to the Kansas City area in 1994, he continued film reviewing by writing for the Cass County Democrat Missourian in Harrisonville.

In 2000 Michael joined Sun Publications in Overland Park, Kansas where he served as its film critic and Arts and Entertainment Editor. During his tenure there, he was also the film critic for the "Fine Arts Radio Hour" and "Celebrity Scoop" radio shows on KXTR. After leaving the Sun in late 2002, he became the A&E writer for the Olathe News in Olathe, Kansas. He also worked as a freelance writer for The Squire in Leawood, Showcase Publishing in Lake Ozark, Missouri and the Kansas City Star.

Michael is currently a member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle, a professional film critic organization established in 1966 by the late Dr. James Loutzenhiser.