L’échange de pouvoir : un reflet de la vie carcérale dans le film Un prophète de Jacques Audiard

Abstract

Considering that film is a form of social practice, it mostly brings social topic to be discussed. In this context, a film is a tool to talk about the problems within the society. Topic about power relation in certain social arena is present in Un prophète (The Prophet), directed by Jacques Audiard. This film tells a story about Malik El-Diebena living behind the bars for six years. In the prison, El-Diebena, who is the part of Arabian community, has had conflict with César Luciani, the leader of Corsican community. He had to find a strategy to fight against César. This article talks about power relation among the characters to fight against social structure based on the narrative and cinematographic aspects by using the concept of power relation by Pierre Bourdieu.  The film provides the social hierarchy of the characters based on the capitals that apply in the prison as social arena. Bourdieu’s concept also shows the power exchange between them. This interaction depends on the amounts of the capitals that each characters have.  The result explains the power system between the characters and the social arena regarding the capital accumulation hold in prison. The social capitals lead to the position shifts in this arena. The text portrays the characters’ efforts to obtain the capitals that are necessaries in the power exchange.