Mathieu Kassovitz, France, 1995, DCP, 98 min. In French with English subtitles. 

In a world of black and white, there is only color, and for friends Vinz (Vincent Cassel) , Hubert (Hubert Koundé), and Saïd (Saïd Taghmaoui) — that color is blue. Armed with a gun, the trio set out on a 24-hour trek through the banlieue districts of Paris in the wake of a clash with the authorities which has left one man in the hospital and three hurtling towards an explosive conclusion. Shot with the idea that the” film should be banned,” Mathieu Kassovitz’s no-holds-barred look of France in the grip of racial tension and fear caused a sensation upon release, and later became an international arthouse smash and a landmark of modern French cinema. Is Paris burning? You bet.