". . . anyone who saw Mathieu Kassovitz's film, 'La Haine,' or 'Hate,' a decade ago had no reason to be surprised by this fall's violence. At the time, Kassovitz's portrayal of a seething immigrant Paris suburb, even his choice of the word 'hate' for his title, seemed shocking, even exaggerated. Today, the movie could almost pass as a documentary."

Alan Riding, in "Entr'acte: If only French leaders listened to pop culture," at the International Herald Tribune's website.