By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 4 cats
Director: Xavier Beauvois
Starring: Lambert Wilson | Michael Lonsdale | Olivier Rabourdin | Philippe Laudenbach
Original language title: Des hommes et des dieux
Country: france
Year: 2011
Running time: 122
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588337/
Diane says: “I had avoided this one for quite a while because I thought it would be trite. But no! Based on the true story of French monks in Algeria in the late 1990s, much of the film covers the monks’ pondering, individually and together, of whether to leave the monastery and the Muslim community they serve, or stay and risk being murdered in the clash between the Algerian army and fundamentalist terrorists.
“I read a review that castigates the film’s political naivete, but I appreciated it immensely as a study in living an ethical life. The
cinematography calls to mind Vermeer. 4 cats”