

"The only way to shoot a film on an estate," says Kassovitz, "is not getting the council's permission." It appears the boys are trying to soak up the ambience, but they end up going stir crazy. set about staging a dangerous stunt (a man being knocked through a window) while the second finds the director and his leading trio squatting in a poky flat in days leading up to production. The first of two behind-the-scenes featurettes sees how Kassovitz and co. Original colour outtakes, audition tapes and rehearsal footage make up part of the feature-length documentary, but there's more of that on disc one. Looking back on those heady days, Cassel admits, "I was ill at ease. Later on, there's footage from Cannes where the film made its glowing debut. I don't want to brag but." For the actors it was an arduous process of learning their craft, which apparently involved smoking lots of marijuana between takes.

Mainly this was achieved with the decision to print the film in black and white, but cameraman Georges Diane immodestly claims, "Everyone's work was of a high standard and my work in particular was quite successful.

Naturally it was almost impossible to get funding, but the rest of the crew are on hand to discuss how they were able to produce something that belied the shoestring budget. There are few directors in France who tackle social problems." Right away, the young director knew he was onto something special, noting that, "French cinema is very personal. It's made up mostly of interviews, beginning with Kassovitz recalling the events that inspired the script ie, riots sparked by the murder of a young man while in police custody. The centrepiece of this Ultimate Edition DVD is a two-hour documentary (on disc two) charting La Haine from inception to its reception at the Cannes Film Festival and the relevance it continues to have over a decade later. But most will still associate him with this portrait of life on a Parisian housing estate, which earned a slew of awards for its " conviction and bold invention".

It also threw the spotlight on star Vincent Cassel who's since appeared in Hollywood blockbusters including Ocean's Twelve along with Gallic fare like L'Appartement. French director Mathieu Kassovitz came to the world's attention with urban crime drama La Haine.
