Filmy o pouličních nepokojích
Inspired by the 2005 Paris riots but set in the aftermath of France’s 2018 World Cup victory in men’s football, Les Misérables is an energetic thriller, based on director Ladj Ly’s own short film of the same name, which tells the story of a community’s youth clashing with the local police.
Les Miserables (2019)
0 recenze
Tensions run high between an aggressive police unit and teenage gangs in suburban Paris.
0 recenze
Věková skupina 16+ let
Les Misérables follows three police officers — Stéphane, Chris and Gwada — who work in the Anti-Crime Squad in the suburbs of Paris, home to a diverse community of ethnic backgrounds and also an area of economic deprivation, where the director grew up. Stéphane is a new recruit to the unit and it’s through his eyes that the audience sees the story. He quickly becomes aware of the existing tensions between law enforcement and local youth gangs, but also of the aggressive, provocative and often violent nature of his two colleagues, particularly the group’s leader, Chris.
When events begin to escalate and the trio are caught in an explosive confrontation that leads to a violent arrest — all of which is captured on camera by an overhead drone — his partners put pressure on him to toe the line regardless of the injustice he’s witnessed. Despite the sinister sounding nature of these events, the film otherwise refuses to paint characters as heroes or villains, with Ladj Ly commenting that «there is bad and good on both sides. I try to film each character without judgement».
Though not a traditional adaptation of Victor Hugo’s seminal novel, the shared name is clearly no coincidence. The events of this film take place in Montfermeil which is notably where Hugo’s work is set, and there are other thematic commonalities, including tensions between law enforcement and citizens. Ladj Ly’s film remains more of a comment on the novel and how so much of it still resonates today than a reworking of it, but the links are evident. He takes inspiration from elsewhere too, including the real-life 2005 Paris riots, while also incorporating the excitement and euphoria of France’s World Cup triumph in the rest of the country and throughout the centre of the capital. But here, in Montfermeil on the outskirts, nothing has changed; everything remains just as it always has been, even back in the mid-19th century.
Filmy o pouličních nepokojích
It’s not just protest songs – like the home-grown anthem Glory to Hong Kong a Ubohý’ singalong “Do You Hear the People Sing” — that have inspired Hong Kong’s anti-extradition bill movement. A number of important but divisive films, many of them local to the city, have also been instrumental in influencing citizens to take to the streets.
In fact, these Hong Kong films proved so controversial that, even before this summer’s events, few cinemas agreed to show them upon release, making public screenings extremely rare.
Here are seven protest films from Asia that have sparked debate and provoked dialogue, whatever the circumstances.
Deset let (2015)
One of the most controversial Hong Kong movies ever, Deset let was criticised for being a “virus of the mind” by China’s Globální časy for its dystopian vision of the city in the year 2025. The anthology of five short films, from five different directors, tackled social issues such as the marginalisation of the Cantonese language in local life, and the end of domestic food production.
Disapproval on the Mainland was only the start of the controversy, however. Despite Deset let proving to be immensely popular with local audiences it suddenly disappeared from cinemas, supposedly at the behest of Beijing. True or not, the result was a wave of public screenings to counter the alleged suppression.
Another twist in the tale came when Deset let was nominated for, and eventually won, Best Film at the Hong Kong Film Awards. CCTV, the Chinese state broadcaster, declared it would not screen the ceremony and news websites like Tencent and Sina failed to mention the film’s victory when reporting on the awards.
Rumours abound that the directors who worked on the project have been unofficially blacklisted from working in the burgeoning Mainland market. Kiwi Chow Kwun-wai, responsible for the Self-Immolator short, has joked that with his involvement in the production, he “self-immolated my own career”.
5 of Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong’s most memorable film roles
Vanished Archives (2017)
Created to tie-in with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 leftist riots – considered Hong Kong’s most significant political crisis before the current unrest – Vanished Archives seeks to provide a “true” record of the event, especially the significant role played by the Communist government in China.
Unsurprisingly, given the film’s contentious subject matter, the creators ran into roadblocks from the start. Funding was nearly impossible to secure and director Connie Lo Yan-wai had to resort to self-financing much of the project. Lo also claimed she was harassed during the making of the documentary, with people photographing her when she left the flat where she was editing the film.
Cinema distribution proved to be unavailable but Hongkongers have reportedly supported the documentary by buying it on DVD.
Lost in the Fumes (2017)
Winner of the Special Jury Prize of the Chinese Documentary Award at the Taiwan International Documentary Festival, Ztraceni ve výparech examines the plight of Hong Kong localist Edward Leung.
An advocate of Hong Kong independence – an issue that has become even more polemicised following the banning of the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party in 2018 – Leung was arrested for his involvement in the 2016 Mong Kok civil unrest.
Wen Wei Po, a Hong Kong-based Chinese newspaper controlled by the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, declared that Ztraceni ve výparech “rationalised violence”.
In predictable fashion, the film was banned from commercial cinemas and only a handful of cultural centres were willing to screen the documentary. Despite the divisive subject matter the Hong Kong Film Critics Society still selected it as one of its eight recommended films of 2017.
6 movie roles that helped Maggie Cheung rule Hong Kong cinema
Č. 1 Chung Ying Street (2018)
Stoking the political controversies ignited by Deset let a Ztraceni ve výparech, No. 1 Chung Ying Street – a film that juxtaposes Hong Kong’s 1967 Leftist Riots with 2014’s Umbrella Revolution, raising questions of police brutality and Hong Kong’s dislocation from China – caused further debate.
The Hong Kong government declined to fund the project, saying it was not sufficiently commercial. The city’s international film festival declined to screen the film, possibly so as to avoid controversy. Instead, it entered into competition at the Osaka Asian Film Festival where it won the Grand Prix.
1987: Až přijde den (2017)
This 2017 political thriller has been revived with community screenings throughout the current Hong Kong protests, which is unsurprising given its subject matter. The film, based on real events, takes place in 1987 when demonstrations erupted in South Korea following incidents earlier that year, including the killing of protesters Bak Jongcheol, a student at Seoul National University, in January, and Yonsei University student Lee Han-yeol in June.
Mass demonstrations took place throughout the country, including a National Rally for the Banishment of Tear Gas Grenades, a cause should resonate with Hongkongers.
The eventual capitulation of the South Korean dictatorship and democratic reforms no doubt serve as a constant inspiration to Hong Kong’s current generation of protesters.
Taxikář (2017)
Not to be confused with Martin Scorsese’s similarly named 1976 movie, this South Korean effort is based on the true story of a German journalist and his Korean taxi driver who end up involved in the pro-democracy Gwangju Uprising of May 1980, back when the country was still a military dictatorship.
Less controversial than the Hong Kong films on this list, Taxikář has proven popular among local protesters this year, who see parallels in the central role played by youths in the Gwangju democratisation movement and the harsh methods used to eventually suppress the 10-day uprising.
Fan Bingbing’s top 5 most iconic film and TV roles
A Single Spark, 1995
A particularly evocative Korean protest film, Jediná jiskra tells the tale of labour activist Jeon Tae-il, who fatally immolated himself in 1970 to try and raise awareness of the deadly work conditions in South Korea’s many sweatshops.
Born in 1948, much of Jeon’s youth was spent in poverty – when his family moved to Seoul, they slept under a bridge for a time. At 17, Jeon got a job at Pyeonghwa Market working in one of the garment sweatshops, where 15-hour shifts and just a single day off each month were the norm.
With his attempts to start a labour union and to organise a street rally frustrated by the authorities, Jeon decided to sacrifice himself. Setting himself on fire and running through the busy Dongdaemun district, Jeon shouted the slogans “Observe the Labour Law!”, “We are not machines!” and “Let us rest on Sundays!” before expiring.
Jeon’s sacrifice was not in vain. His act was an example to others, credited with inspiring a wave of up to 40 self-immolations by other Korean youths over the subsequent two decades. Gradually, Korean labour laws were improved and living standards raised with them.
Chcete více takových příběhů? Zaregistrujte se zde . Sledujte STYLE na Facebooku, Instagramu, YouTube a Twitteru .
Five Films To See About The LA Riots
Five documentaries, each coming from a slightly different perspective, delve into the civil unrest that began in Los Angeles 25 years ago on April 29, 1992, following the verdict by a Simi Valley jury that found four Los Angeles police officers not guilty in the beating of Rodney King.
Here are the official trailers for all five:
1. LA 92 – National Geographic
2. The Lost Tapes: LA Riots – Smithsonian Channel
3. Burn Motherf*cker, Burn! A Film by Sacha Jenkins – Showtime
4. L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later – A&E
5. Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 – ABC News for theatrical release
POZNÁMKA EDITORA: WLA Assistant Editor Taylor Walker saw the Tribeca Film Festival premiere of NatGeo’s LA 92, which is an immersive documentary constructed only from archival footage, radio broadcasts, and photographs, and recommends it.
3 Komentáře
Raw & Unfiltered říká:
George Holliday, a selfless soul armed with a videocam exposed LAPD to the whole world. Priceless.
Historik říká:
A great read with records and facts would be the book “Lying Eyes” by former LAPD Officer and Author Tom Owens. Truly worth reading.
John Stites říká:
I have yet to see any film on the King riot that was accurate. Generally all are just justifications for the violence and failed LE and city leadership in LA County.
We collect Movies about Street riots rating based on ratings and reviews on popular services. To collect Movies about Street riots we analyze rendition, popular services, comments, people reviews, forum comments and make our own rating. If you think there is a movie missing in the selection, you can leave a comment with the name of the movie that should be included in the selection. Let’s make a rating Movies about Street riots together!
