Genre is powerful, especially in the hands of as gifted a filmmaker as France's Jacques Audiard. His new film, the masterful "A Prophet," is an answered prayer for those who believe that revitalizing classic forms with contemporary attitudes makes for the most compelling kind of cinema.
Part prison film, part crime story, part intense personal drama, this all-consuming narrative with the power and drive of a Formula One racer has been something of a phenomenon since it took the grand jury prize at Cannes last year. A "Sight & Sound" poll of 60 critics worldwide named it the best film of 2009, it's one of the five foreign-language film Oscar nominees, it took Britain's prestigious BAFTA award in that category and, with 13 nominations overall, it's a prohibitive favorite to win the Cesar, France's Oscar, for best picture
