does it mean anything?
==
National Socialist German Workers' Party
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazi_Party
Also wondering about this.
At first I thought it might be a hit on Malik as soon as he got out but as it ended without incident I thought maybe it was an escort for his protection? I have no idea to be honest.
I'm pretty sure it's his protection, as it neatly parallels the three car scenario he presents earlier in the film. To me, it is there to show how prison has changed Malik, and basically how he will never be the same.
is everything alright? you feeling lonely? you feeling moldy? you're not the only...
I saw it as symbolism.
While Malik may be out of prison, he's not out of crime and it will follow him wherever he goes next.
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/FBBAC_TimeaMajorova/
True. I also loved the absurd contrast. He stands before his soldiers as a somewhat of a family man.
shareI just saw it and I was thinking the exact same thing.
shareSeifer is absolutely right. I can't believe how nobody got this, it's obvious when Khalid and the rest of the crew greet him when he walks out of the prison.
shareThere's an interesting parallel scene from the Godfather:
when Michael visits Kaye and they walk on the street
with Michael's limo trailing at walking pace behind them.
(I wonder if it was consciously stolen or a coincidence.)
yeah good point. if i remember though, kaye seemed aware of the limo. loved how the mother and child just walked on as if no one was behind them.
shareYeah I also thought it was pretty obvious, not just when the guys greet him when he walks out, but even in the scene before that in the yard when Luciani now has to approach Malik. It's a juxtaposition of how Malik used to have to approach and answer to Luciani and now the roles are totally reversed and Malik is in control of the Muslim gang. I only wished Malik would've had Luciani killed because his character was so loathsome I really wanted him dead!
shareI agree that the Luciani character is was loathsome, and some part of me would have enjoyed seeing killed.
But I think that it's an even better ending just seeing end up an humiliated, isolated, vulnerable old man (all his "friends" have left, so I figured his days were countered...). What a contrast with the beginning of the movie!
indeed, the whole "dejected former leader realizes he has become a nobody" thing was priceless
Who cares about stairs? The main thing is ice cream.
which is completely because kaye didn't fully understand what was going on and the mother was well aware of what her late husband had been doing. granted malik does that wave of the hand thing, which could be construed as a signal to not get to close so she wouldn't notice.
in a way the closing scene is actually my least favorite, as it takes a very Godfather-esque movie and forces the comparison on everyone. there is much more going on in a prophet than there was in the godfather (which is a movie i adore). i almost wish that the movie had ended when he asked where they pick up the bus. it's very obvious upon his exit of the prison that he has a committed following and the cars following them really didn't need to be there to hammer the point across.
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It does not make him out to be the next godfather/scarface he goes to catch a bus for crying out loud!! I dont recall Tony Montana doing that ;-)
I liked the scene. He went in with nothing and when he comes out he has a family (his friends wife and child) and business associates from different gangs who all respect him enough to welcome him when he leaves prison. But he still "works for himself" so rather than get a lift in a car he decides to catch the bus with his new family.
That's the closest to how I saw it.
shareJust saw the movie with my daughter. I too was confused by the cars but she wasn't. She said "They will be following him the rest of his life"--the guys he does deals with and the Corsicans, too, whose council he broke up.
He doesn't get a ride with them because they are visionary.
I also saw the parallel with the Godfather, and the meaning there was similar in a sense: Michael will never be without that baggage, that entourage, that funeral cortege for the people he has killed.
That's an interesting interpretation - but I vaguely remember the cars being shown outside, waiting, before he exited the jail? Besides, whenever we saw ghost-Reyeb we knew that he wasn't real; I think that if the cars weren't real, they would have been shown in a way that would make that certain. Like this, Malik doesn't get a ride because he enjoys being outside, finally completely out if the prison, and he likes to take a walk with the woman and the child.
In a way, though, your daughter is still right; he'll never be "just a simple man" again, he has entered the mob game, and that is a game for life.
there's a highway that is curling up like smoke above his shoulder
They were "visionary"? No, I think you got that wrong if you think they were just a fiction of his imagination. Their cars were parked and the individuals from the separate groups aka business associates were there to greet him upon his release. He briefly acknowledges with a nod but beelines straight for Kaye, and they respectfully trail him in their cars as he tends to Kaye and child; who are, after all, his financial responsibility and for all intents and purposes, his true immediate family as agreed upon before his best friend's succumbing to cancer.
Some fellows get credit for being conservative when they are only stupid.
- Kin Hubbard
Those are Malik's men. They're following him. It's the contrast between his family life and his criminal associations
"Unless Alpert's covered in bacon grease, I don't think Hugo can track anything."
I agree - they are Malik's men - he's now the "mafia kingpin". I think he was going to ride the bus with his friend's widow and baby. I noticed a little sign he gave the guys behind him - indicating maybe that they should back off.
One thing I thought was amazing was that his friend's widow didn't notice them. At least that's how it appeared.
exactly
sharePerfect understanding IMHO:
I agree - they are Malik's men - he's now the "mafia kingpin". I think he was going to ride the bus with his friend's widow and baby. I noticed a little sign he gave the guys behind him - indicating maybe that they should back off.share
how can he be a kingpin when his men were afraid of doing hits? all thye could do was hash drug deals.
shareI think these guys are a combo of Jackie M's guys and Malik's Muslim crew
both of them owe him something and since he ALwAYS prefers to work together w/o animosity if he can--he is going to control both crews to some extent from now on...
he probably IS going to ride the bus back to Jamila's place
although he could command a much better apartment through his criminal payoffs--and maybe he will move her into one later...
but as another poster said--
he will keep his criminal and his personal lives separate as much as possible
"...That's the beauty of argument, Joey. If you argue correctly, you're never wrong..."
Most mobbed up guys are afraid of doing hits. They love walking around like they are all hitmen and throwing their weight around in bully situations but most guys don't have the balls for it or are too smart to let things get to that level. Its different for street corner gang bangers, a higher percentage of them are dumb and love shooting off every chance they get for no profit and little motivation other than looking tough amongst their moron friends by shooting everything and everyone but their target. Mobbed up guys usually get peon gangbangers and the like to do the dirty work for them. Like the Taliban, it's not the leadership doing the suicide bombings, they just find the morons and point them on their way.
shareI don't know if people on this board are plainly stupid or just full of *beep* There is a very simple answer to the question about why Malik is followed by cars. I don't know if I should educate the idiots or keep mum about it.
Any French men here who can discuss the movie?
my vote history:
http://imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=27424531
If you subscribe to the film's fairly overt religious symbolism, then you might consider the entourage to be Malik's disciples; his release from jail: his resurrection (you only live twice...)
sharei saw that scene as contrast to the begining, where he entered the prison with no friends, no family, no one to wire him money, and then he leaves the prison with a family(ryad's) and his new crew
laughs are cheap, I'm going for gasps
the people outside following malik are basically henchmen that are under his wing. if you watch closey: notice his right hand trying to 'shew' them away. because he doesnt want her to notice the way of life he has chosen.
share[deleted]
I'm not entirely sure that there is just one answer.
This scene seems to wrap up so many threads followed during the course of this excellent film.
Why quote other people when I like the sound of my own voice?
In the official long synopsis for the film in the Cannes festival, this is the explanation:
Outside three cars wait, driven by Arabs, Egyptians, and Corsicans, the three mobs now united under Malik.
Malik deals with two different groups besides working for the Corsicans.
First, through Ryad he is able to materialize the gypsy's plan of running hashish from Marbella to Paris by setting up a team with Khalid and then allowing Latif, the Egyptian, to join the operation.
Second, he develops a bond with Lattrache who is now controlling the slot machines in Marseille and the south of France.
With his intelligence and courage, Malik has helped these criminals to make a lot of money and they respect him as an associate, a leader, and probably most importantly as someone who can be trusted - a rarity in their criminal underworld. They come to celebrate his release but Malik cannot openly greet them because of Djamila, who is ignorant of her late husband Ryad's criminal activities. However, it is obvious he will continue a life of crime.
WIN ^^
Everyone had great ideas about it but it just goes to show how difficult it is to really understand the directors intentions sometimes.
Hmmm. I thought the meaning was perfectly clear. Malik has ascended and he is now "don" so to speak. He won the respect of Lattrache who was in awe of someone who talked to everybody, who called him a prophet. Malik has learned to "listen and learn," as he informs Lucciani when he reveals his understanding of Corsican. He synthesizes that information to his advantage. When he is sent to kill Maggiani (?), he seizes the opportunity to put Maggiani in his debt by allowing him to live and by also informing him who is enemies are. He has built a powerful network, schooled by the best. To secure his power, he does his time in the hole knowing the old power base will disintegrate leaving Lucciani isolated and powerless. It's much like Michael's transformation when he kills the cop and Turk, then goes into exile in Italy while the families go to war and power ultimately shifts.
His walk into the courtyard defines who he is. He is stoic and need only murmur a word or two to have his old boss cut down and humiliated. He is king and protected.
It's easy to be somewhat confused because Malik is not arrogant. He has learned to fly under the radar, not to attract attention until he needs to. On his way out of prison, he even addresses the guards respectfully, calling them sir. He acknowledges his new crew who have come to pick him up. But his interest is in Djamila and child, the family bequeathed to him by his former teacher. His crew will do whatever he wants and will protect him, following them as they walk. Yes, it's an obvious nod to Michael's ascension to power when he walks with Kaye.
Djamila knows perfectly well who Malik is. Do you think the godfather's wife did not understand her husband's business? Her husband had probably told her that upon his death, Malik would be taking care of them. And Malik, an orphan and alone all his life, embraces his new family and his new position in the criminal world.
This is the difference between Hollywood and Europe. Hollywood films delight in making things perfectly clear, characters almost stereotypical. European films use a different cinematic language and don't fear using actors that aren't pretty in roles that are often ambiguous. I love the godfather 1 & 2 movies; they are beautifully told stories but the characters and settings are prettied up and romanticized. There is no way when this film starts that you would believe Malik would become the criminal kingpin in Europe, which puts you more in awe during that last shot when he leaves prison.
Watch the original film Traffick and compare it to Soderbergh's Traffic. I actually prefer the original.
To add to your well put analysis. There were several references between Malik and the Gypsy about when they get out how they will run their operations. And 3 cars was mentioned.
shareVery well said macktan894!
~Proud Balehead~
macktan, thank you so much for your articulate and succinct explanation.it cleared up all my little plot confusions and also put the film in a very interesting perspective, given u.s. and european cinema. i will seek out traffick now as well.
i do agree w/ you and others who noted the direct scene parallels w/ the godfather. what americans need to remember is that many French directors REVERE many great u.s.directors, and love to pay them homage; just as american directors do w/ famous non-U.S. directors.
no coincidences! those crafty directors make more decisions on one film than most normal people do in a lifetime, so i believe it's a pretty dependable
fact that with the great film directors, most film details are fully and consciously intended, includiing millions of references that we never even
notice!
thanks again, macktan.
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