Italian Helmer Enrico Maria Artale Honors Jacques Audiard’s Legacy in ‘A Prophet’: ‘Many French Directors Refused to Do the Series’

Italian director Enrico Maria Artale wasn’t scared of referencing Jacques Audiard’s 2009 Oscar-nominated drama in his eight-episode series “A Prophet,” now premiering in Venice. But others were. 

“Many French directors refused to do the series before they offered it to me. It was probably out of fear – they were afraid to touch something that was so famous and beautiful, and meaningful. Or maybe it was out of respect for the institution that is Jacques Audiard,” he says. 

“For me, he’s always been a master – even before ‘The Prophet.’ I loved ‘The Beat That My Heart Skipped.’ But I just thought it was a unique opportunity to work on something I’ve admired so much.”

Sold by Studiocanal and created by Abdel Raouf Dafri and Nicolas Peufaillit, “A Prophet” – taking place contemporarily – sees Malik (Mamadou Sidibé), a young African immigrant, trying to survive in a French prison. He meets Massoud (Sami Bouajila), a powerful businessman. Malik wants protection – Massoud wants obedience. 

“The first thing I told the producers, and I think it surprised them, was that I didn’t want to repeat what Jacques did. It’s not only a different story; it’s different in terms of style, tone. I wanted to push it further,” notes Artale. 

The world of the series is not exactly the same as the world of the film, but it “deals with the same issues,” he points out. Over time, some conflicts have changed and some have exploded: “Like immigration. The idea was to go beyond the prison story, because the original movie is not just that either. It’s one of the reasons why it has found this cult following.” 

He wanted to reference classic French noir movies: the works of Jacques Becker and Robert Bresson. 

“It was funny, because the producers were mentioning Italian movies and shows, like ‘Gomorrah,’ and I kept talking about French films. Maybe that’s why the show has this mixed identity that I like,” he laughs. With literature and religion woven into the story, he ended up combining documentary-like scenes with something more “mystical.” 

“I was thinking about that unbelievably long and beautiful scene with a priest in Steve McQueen’s ‘Hunger.’ I thought: Prison is a place of violence, but also of philosophical exploration,” he says. 

“Abdel, one of the creators, told me: ‘I know that people don’t talk like that in prison, but I don’t care.’ We’re not only talking about the reality of these places – we are talking about being human. Even though we see a lot of violence, psychological and physical, these characters had a lot of dignity. I found it touching.” 

The unlikely pairing of Malik and Massoud turned out to be his favorite in the show. 

“What’s going on between them is so surprising. There’s everything: Racism, discrimination by sexual orientation, the gap between the rich and the poor. So much of what we’re experiencing in Europe right now. They feel similar somehow, even though they’re the exact opposites.”

While “there are conversations” about the second season, Artale might end up enjoying it as a viewer. 

“It’s been three years of everyday work and a huge part of my life. I was able to work on an ambitious TV series in a way that’s more similar to making an independent movie. It was magic, even though it was exhausting, but it’d be very hard to do it again,” he admits, currently “more focused on his next film.” 

“That doesn’t mean I won’t pay attention to the possibility of a second season. I love these characters and I’d like to know what happens to them afterwards. They became close friends.”

Artale, also behind “Romulus” and “Django,” likes to “adapt the characters to the actors,” allowing for rewrites and rehearsing scenes that don’t end up in the show. “For Malik, we even rehearsed his way of walking and standing, because he’s almost mute in the first episode.” He also shoots in chronological order, at least partly, to follow the evolution of the characters.

“I like to film everything myself and just be there with them. It allows me to ‘dance’ with the actors. I’ve never been able to do all this on another series,” he says, hoping that in the future “TV and indie filmmaking will be crossing their paths even more.”

“I want to defend movies. But once these two worlds start to speak to each other, it will be good for everyone.”