In France they spend six months training policemen, then they give them a gun and put them on the streets, and I don't know that that's enough. The film's not against the police - although I think that if someone wants to be a cop there's got to be a problem.

Sarkozy stirred controversy and outrage when he said the rioters were "scum" and should be "cleansed" from the banlieues (suburbs) with a "fire hose". Actor
Kassovitz is most famous outside France for his acting role as Nino Quincampoix in Jean-Pierre Jeunet's film Amélie.

Mathieu Kassovitz (born 3 August 1967) is a French director screenwriter producer editor and actor. Kassovitz is also the founder of MNP Entreprise a film production company.