Kassovitz Speaks Out About Riots

In the wake of the riots that have rocked France, the director of La Haine has spoken out against France's interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, calling him "inexperienced" and "a puny, would-be Napoleon". Mathieu Kassovitz, whose film shocked the French establishment back in 1995 with its vivid depiction of Paris' urban sprawl said: "The minister of the interior, a future presidential candidate, holds ideas that not only reveal his inexperience of politics and human relations, but which also illuminate the purely demagogical and egocentric aspects of a puny, would-be Napoleon." He defended the rioters, saying that a lack of political respect was to blame. "These burning cars are [in direct response to] the lack of respect the minister of the interior has shown towards their community."