A Prophet Essay

Essay: Compare the treatment of power, poverty and conflict in 'A Prophet' with one other film studied for this module.


The themes of power, poverty and conflict are strongly displayed within both the films"A Prophet" (2009) and "City of God" (2002), both of the films follow the live of a young a fairly insignificant member of society through their life and the route into crime- which is also part of the power presented within the environments. 


In both of the films poverty is clearly presented- especially within the film "City of God" and perhaps more obvious. The film itself is set within the violent streets Rio de Janeiro- even without previous knowledge the environment that they live in is clearly shown as a poor place. There are no roads, only dirt and sand, the buildings look poorly constructed. Although its not so obvious in "A prophet" but still a strong part of the film, the main character: Malik is clearly affected by poverty- we are not aware of his situation or reasoning for assaulting the police officer (which is the reason he ended up in prison) the character his self throughout the film makes us understand that he doesnt actually have any parents or family, He cannot read or write, and when he comes into prison in the first place, he has very little possessions, which includes a very small amount of money and tatty clothes. Although poverty is clearly shown in both of the films the way it is shown in "City of God" is more direct and the town and cities there self are full of poverty, and are to some extent slums. Where as in the film "A Prophet" the poverty shown is to the one individual character which has affected his life and maybe even being the main reason he has winded up in prision.


Conflict is clearly shown in both films, through violence, verbal abuse and in both films there are seperations either through race, religion or gangs. In the film "City of God" as it gets into the film, there are conflicts between the law enforcers and the civillians their selves but as it progresses through the film, there becomes conflict and violence between individuals and gangs are formed sending nearly the whole down into conflict. Where as yet again in the film "A Prophet" the conflict is still shown but on a smaller scale, and it is displayed through class and culture in the prision itself, but viloence and conflict in the film seems to be orders and given less of a reason.


Power is also displayed within both films, in the film "A Prophet" there is a gang of Corsicans who run the prision and even have links with security guards and other members of the prison authority. Although we are not shown or told they have a clear leader of the gang who decides all the issues and what is going to happen through out the film. Where as the main character in the film"City of God" bases his whole life around wanting to be the top hood in the city, and the whole film is based around power and who runs the town- there is also power from law in this film but the hoods and gangs take over and are displayed to have more power then them anyway. 


In conclusion in both of the films it shows that all of the themes are linked to one another. The characters theirselves are in poverty and turn to crime to gain money or feel they have no other choice, and also it is shown that power is gained through crime- they earn respect and become well known. The fact that crime is linked to earning of money rises them out of the issue of poverty and they become more powerful, it shows that crime is shown to be the only option out of poverty and possibly the reason so many people in the film "City of God" relate to it.