I was not scared that Italian director Enrico Maria Al Al Al Al Al Al Al Al Al Al premiered in Venice in his eight-episode series, “A Prophet.” But others did.
“Many French directors refused to do the series before offering it to me. They probably were out of fear. They were afraid to touch something so famous, beautiful, meaningful.
“To me, he was always a master, even before the ‘prophet.’ I loved “the beat that my heart skipped.” But I just thought it was a unique opportunity to tackle what I admired. ”
The canal + original creation “Prophet” sold by Studiocanal and created by Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit is being carried out in modern times, but the young African immigrant Malik (Mamadou Sidibé) is about to survive in a French prison. He meets Massoud (Sami Bouajila), a powerful businessman. Malik wants protection – Maud wants obedience.
“I think the first thing I said to the producers (Mark Cherkey from the CPB film and Sebastian Janine from the Media Musket studio) was what surprised them, saying they didn’t want to repeat what Jack did.
The world of the series is not exactly the same as the world of the film, but he points out that “it deals with the same issues.” Over time, some conflicts changed, and some exploded: “Like immigrants. The idea was to go beyond the prison narrative, because the original film wasn’t all. That’s one of the reasons I found support for this cult.”
He wanted to refer to the classic French noir film: Jack Becker and Robert Bresson’s work.
“It was interesting because the producers were referring to Italian films and shows like ‘Gomora’ and I continued to talk about French films. Maybe that’s why I have this mixed identity that I like on the show,” he laughs. Literature and religion were weaved into the story, and he ended up combining documentary-like scenes with something more “mysterious.”
“I was thinking about an incredibly long and beautiful scene with the priest in Steve McQueen’s ‘Hunger’. I thought: prisons are not only a place of violence, but also a place of philosophical exploration,” he says.
“Abdel, one of the creators, told me: “I know people don’t talk like that in prison, but I don’t care.” We’re not just about the reality of these places.
The unlikely pairing of Malik and Massoud turned out to be his favorite on the show.
“What’s going on between them is so amazing. There’s everything: racism, discrimination due to sexual orientation, the gap between the rich and the poor. A lot of what we’re experiencing in Europe right now.
There’s a conversation about the second season, but Artale might enjoy it as a viewer.
“There was a lot of my life and a lot of my life. I was able to tackle an ambitious TV series that was similar to making an independent film. It was magic, but it’s very difficult to start over again,” he admits, “focusing on the next film.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t pay attention to the possibilities of a second season. I love these characters and want to know what happens to them afterwards. They’ve become close friends.”
The Artale behind “Romulus” and “Django” prefers to “adapt the characters to the actors” and is able to rewrite and rehearse scenes that don’t end in the show. “For Malik, he’s mostly muted in the first episode, so he rehearsed the way he walks and how he stands.” He also shoots at least partially in chronological order, at least in part, in order to follow the character’s evolution.
“I just film everything myself and be with them. I can ‘dance’ with the actors. I couldn’t do all this in another series,” he says.
“I want to protect the film, but if these two worlds start talking to each other, that would be good for everyone.”
