Comparing city settings

How is the city a defining presence in 'La Haine' and 'London to Brighton'?

In both of these films, the audience are given a sense of time to when the events are taking place. However, this is indicated more frequently in 'La Haine' as every so often, the screen turns black and nothing but the time is displayed in a clear white font. Whereas 'London to Brighton' this type of thing only occurs once at the very start of the film, where we are told that is '3:07AM'. However, both films are set over a 24 hour period and the events follow on from what has happened in the past - in 'La Haine' this involves the rioting on the streets from the night before, which left Abdel, a friend of Saïd, Hubert and Vinz, badly injured and in hospital in a critical condition. in 'London to Brighton', the events instantly follow on from what is later revealed to be Duncan Allen, a twisted man who has a taste for young girls, is left bleeding to death and soon dies. The difference, however, is that Hubert, Saïd and Vinz embark on their journey simply to pass time, but in 'London to Brighton' Joanne and Kelly embark on theirs as a means of escaping from danger - the danger of being caught be Derek and taken to Stuart.

In both films, the city presents an over-hanging element of desperation with drones upon the characters. In 'London to Brighton' this is shown by Kelley's plans on getting money so that she can get Joanne to safety - through prostitution with the nearest curb-crawler that she can find. In in 'La Haine' the desperation is just as rough and brutal as Vinz dreams of shooting a police man dead so that he prove to everyone else that he is ready for a high, fearful gangsta status. We are also made aware that both cities in which the films are set are of a grim, vile nature - 'La Haine' with it's police brutality that dominates the Paris suburbs which could break out any second upon the local youths, and 'London to Brighton' with the a high amount of prostitution and curb-crawlers on the London streets, and Stuart Allen even describes it as a 'shithole' being full of 'scum'. Nevertheless, some of the key landmarks from both cities make appearances in the films (the Eiffel tower in 'La Haine' and Waterloo station and Piccadilly Circus in 'London to Brighton) showing that while both cities have iconic landscapes that people will forever associate with them, it is possible to zoom in on the smaller, cozier areas inside a large a space, this being the Suburban estate and parks in 'La Haine' and the number of small restaurants and apartments of 'London to Brighton'.

Something else that is established in both films is the large range of characters that can be found in big cities, and how unlikely relationships can be formed. In 'La Haine' this occurs between Saïd, who is Arabic, Vinz, who is of Jewish descent and Hubert, an Afro-French character - three very different cultural backgrounds who form a sibling-like relationship because they are bounded by a common enemy - the police. Because of this, they look out for each other, as if they are 'brothers'. A sibling-like relationship is also formed between Kelly, a prostitute in her 20's, and Joanne, a 12-year-old runaway, who is discovered by Kelly when she is begging outside Waterloo station. Instantly she is warm-heated towards her, initially so that she can be used with Duncan Allen's sexual desires, but later on in the film it is the escape to Brighton that brings them closer together, with Kelly often making sure that she will okay and entertained while she earns money through prostitution. It is her mission to get her to safety and away from Stuart and Derek, much like the characters of 'La Haine' must lookout for each other against the police brutality.