Kassovitz explains, "We shot HATE about twenty miles from Paris, on the outskirts
of the city, in a housing project. Like in any other project, about 80% of the population
and all of the youth have nothing to do. The kids don't go to school anymore. They
hang around outside, smoking joints, and their only 'work' is usually small-time drug
deals. And it's not even that it's so oppressive physically -- there are parks, soccer
fields, trees. It's just that the people have no ambition, no direction, no goals and,
finally, no hope."
VINCENT CASSEL concurs with Kassovitz. "There is no program in these ghettos
that offers a better education. On the contrary, authorities reject them. I think that as
long as a given country, group or individual refuses to take responsibility for the
mistakes they have made, things can only degenerate. Isn't each generation responsible
for itself?"
HUBERT KOUNDE recalls that, despite the harsh circumstances of filming in the
housing project, things were not nearly as difficult as initially thought. "We thought
it'd be much harder, but everything went just fine. We even made some good friends
there. Of course, our experience was made better because Matthieu asked some of the
people living in the “cite” to be in the movie. Not only did it ease potential tensions,
but it allowed reality to enter the world of fiction."
This blending of reality and fiction was at the core of writer/director Kassovitz's
decision to film HATE in black and white. "To me, the only way to remind the
audience that they are not watching a comedy or a sentimental drama is to make a
movie in black and white. It feels more real."
And it was also the reality of life in the projects during the filming of this piece of
fiction that proved an inescapable factor during production. "The people who live there
look at you with pain in their eyes," recalls actor SAID TAGHMAOUI, "and the
worst part is when you go away, while they have to stay behind. It's very hard."
"The reality of the 'cite' is so strong," the actor continues, "that it's hard to look it in the
face and, most of the time, people prefer to just close their eyes. Our ghettos are very
interesting places where races and cultures mix and are a source of life. HATE is not
just a film about brutality, it's a major lesson in friendship. If this movie helps people
become aware of that, it's a really big step."
HUBERT KOUNDE hopes that HATE will help increase people's awareness of the
problems in the ghetto. "We tried to analyze how hate is formed in those ghettos and
to put it on film. We're not trying to 'sell' anything and I'm not sure what the social
implications of this film will be. I do know that movies like HATE are necessary,
really necessary. And I also know that if you don't try, you don't get anything. Change
doesn't happen without awareness."
For writer/director Kassovitz, HATE could well label him a 'spokesman' for the
French ghetto youth. This is, however, a goal to which he does not aspire.
"You're a spokesman if you decide to be one," Kassovitz explains. "I definitely have
things to say about police brutality and slip-ups. There are some events, some things
that have happened in our city that I find really strange. The vision in HATE is
definitely my vision, but it's not the only one, and it's not necessarily the right one."
