The National Times - French cult film 'La Haine' returning as musical

The film's director Mathieu Kassovitz -- also known internationally as the star of TV spy series "The Bureau" -- is behind the adaptation, scheduled for a Paris theatre in autumn 2024.

"My PR people don't want me to call it a musical because it's a bit corny," Kassovitz told AFP with a smile.

"It's more modern than a classic musical. Hip-hop allows for a more natural approach, it makes sense to have a musical exchange that way."

He compared that approach to classics like "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" from 1964 in which "there's no explanation why people are breaking into song in the middle of a scene".

"La Haine" (Hate) won Kassovitz best director in Cannes when he was just 27 and made a star of Vincent Cassel as one of a trio of friends in a poor neighbourhood outside Paris engulfed by riots over police violence.

The stage show will feature some 30 dancers and around 15 original songs.

Production was already well under way when a 17-year-old, identified only as Nahel, was killed in June by a police officer during a traffic stop outside Paris, sparking nationwide protests.

Kassovitz said Nahel's death was different to the events of the film, "but for 30 years I have been called up every month to comment on some blunder."

"These images remind everyone that it never stopped, that's why we have this poster," he said, pointing to the slogan of the play that reads "Hate, so far nothing has changed".

Kassovitz, 56, is recovering from a horrific motorcycle accident last month but says simply that he is "fine".

He says he wants the stage show to recreate the "emotion, laughter and rhythm" of the three friends at the centre of the film, which made it so popular despite its hard-hitting subject.

"We grabbed people by the collar, we took them on a journey," he said.

F.Adams--TNT