a beautiful, brilliant, unrelenting film. although it runs for 2 hours & 40 minutes, you hardly notice the time. tahar rahim is absolutely magnificent in this role - he is in almost every scene and his performance is just stunning. his character malik el djebena is a french arab sentenced at age 19 to 6 years in prison for attacking a policeman. his transformation from an illiterate muslim who barely knows his own culture to someone who masters everyone around him is amazing. truly subtle and beautiful performances from everyone. film maker jacques audiard manages to avoid any "prison film" cliches and the cinematography is stunning. you must see this film....one of the best of the year, well of any year! (plus all the boys are really, really hot!!)