Excellent depiction of life in French housing projects 7/10 Author: wankat from London, UK 23 March 2005 I was puzzled by the comments posted by another user. Not all French movies are about white people engaged in deep conversation when they're not making love to their best mate's wife or sister. Like the highly regarded film "La Haine," La Squale depicts life on the other side of the tracks. This was a film about the wretched life of France's minority youth who live in bleak housing projects. Like in any city worldwide where young people comes from broken families and live in squalid public housing, the character in this film are not model citizens. And yes, they are influenced by America's hip hop culture, as are young people in England, China, and many other parts of the world. This film follows the story of Desiree as she (apparently) starts at a new high school and meets new friends - and enemies. Highly charged, fast moving and never boring. Highly recommended. Great brief appearance by Denis Lavant as The Joker.