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The return of the political, or designer visions of exclusion? The case for Mathieu Kassovitz's ‘fracture sociale’ trilogy

Abstract The article examines Kassovitz's first three feature films—Métisse (1993), La Haine (1995) and Assassin(s) (1997)—which, it is argued, form a ‘fracture sociale’ trilogy. It considers Kassovitz's often controversial portrayal of contemporary social realities (racism, exclusion, delinquency and violence) and the ways in which these issues are mediated through the experiences of marginalized youth. The article also attempts to locate Kassovitz's own brand of visually seductive, youth-orientated social cinema in the context of new realism and the ‘return of the political’ found in 1990s French cinema, as well as in relation to the established tradition of the French auteur as social commentator.