Hors la Loi (Outside the Law)
16/03/17 Filed in: Amazon Prime
This film is set against the backdrop of the Algerian independence movement. It follows the life of three brothers from the end of the Second World War up to Algerian independence in 1962, although we are in fact first introduced to them when, as children, their father's land was taken away from the family in Algeria. The film has attracted controversy in respect of historical accuracy, with accusations that it portrays the French as the villains, while likening the Algerians to the Resistance during the War. I must say that I certainly came away with that feeling.
As adult brothers we are next introduced to the three of them, Messaoud, Abdelkader and Saïd, at a parade in the Algerian town of Sétif. This was on the morning of 8 May 1945, the same day that Nazi Germany surrendered. The film depicts the French forces opening fire on the marchers, the impression given that it was French aggression, while historical reports are more equivocal, indicating that there was aggression on both sides. Whatever the truth, it is acknowledged that this event was a turning point in Franco-Algerian relations, leading to the Algerian War of 1954-1962. In February 2005 the French ambassador to Algeria formally apologised for the massacre, referring to it as an "inexcusable tragedy".
For the three brothers in the film, it was the point that they separated. Abdelkader is arrested and imprisoned, Messaoud joins the French army and goes to fight in Indochina and Saïd makes his way to Paris with their mother, their father having been to be killed during the Sétif massacre. Abdelkader is politicised in prison, having witnessed executions and encouraged to further the cause by members of the FLN (Front de Libération Nationale). Messaoud is captured in Indochina where, forced to listen to the enemy's broadcast propaganda, he realises how effective dedicated guerrilla tactics can be against a militarily stronger opposition. Meanwhile, Saïd, always the wheeler-dealer, becomes a pimp having eschewed the suggestion to get a job at Renault along with other Algerians. I found one particular scene quite shocking, where one of his girls, having worked through the night, hands him her takings and gets a demi-baguette in return.
When Abdelkader is released from prison he attempts to drum up support for the FLN but is largely unsuccessful. Meanwhile Messaoud returns from the war, and the three brothers are again reunited in Paris. Messaoud had vowed never to kill again after leaving the army, but as his brother Abdelkader's campaign eventually starts to gather support he is required to break that vow. Saïd by now has branched out, with a cabaret club and a boxing establishment. When he left Sétif he had brought with him a young Algerian who had shown himself to be a natural fighter, and Saíd's dream is to train him up to become a French champion. None of this fits in with Abdelkader's FLN ambitions, and relations between them become strained, especially when Saïd's cabaret is closed down by the security forces.
As Abdelkader's FLN cell becomes more organised, attacks are staged on the police, including a daring assassination within a police station. The national security force is now hunting them, headed by the astute Colonel Faivre, who adopts the same hunt and kill tactics as the FLN. This results in the death of a young French woman sympathiser who had become close to Abdelkader, and who was about to accompany him to Germany where the FLN were amassing arms. Two coaches loaded with arms are brought back to France but one of the group is arrested by the police and divulges the rendezvous point. A gun battle ensues with national security officers and police support, during which Messaoud is injured. Saïd, however, having been tipped off that his brothers were in danger, arrives at the scene and the three escape, but Messaoud doesn't survive the journey. Of the three, he was the only one who had married, and he leaves a child.
Saïd's young boxer has successfully earned a match for the French title but Abdelkader learns that the FLN are going to kill his brother and the boxer if the fight goes ahead. Despite the risks Abdelkader goes to the fight to warn his brother, but Colonel Faivre and the national security officers are everywhere and, having stopped the fight, the two remaining brothers have to flee. Paris is full of demonstrators in support of Algerian independence and the brothers find themselves among some of them on a Métro platform, but Abdelkader can't resist taking up the call to arms and becomes the most vocal of the group, invoking fatal retaliation from the police. As Abdelkader's life ebbs away, Faivre acknowledges that the FNL had won.
On 1 July, 1962, six million Algerians cast their ballots in favour of independence in a referendum.
I found this an interesting film that prompted me to carry out more research into the background of these events. It certainly seems that the film may be somewhat unduly biased towards the Algerian point of view, but there again the French, like the British, did carry out some unsavoury actions in support of their colonial ambitions. I also found it interesting that many of the Algerians occupied what we would now call a shanty town at Nanterre, to the west of Paris, an area that I visited frequently when in Paris in 2013 and 2014.
When Abdelkader is released from prison he attempts to drum up support for the FLN but is largely unsuccessful. Meanwhile Messaoud returns from the war, and the three brothers are again reunited in Paris. Messaoud had vowed never to kill again after leaving the army, but as his brother Abdelkader's campaign eventually starts to gather support he is required to break that vow. Saïd by now has branched out, with a cabaret club and a boxing establishment. When he left Sétif he had brought with him a young Algerian who had shown himself to be a natural fighter, and Saíd's dream is to train him up to become a French champion. None of this fits in with Abdelkader's FLN ambitions, and relations between them become strained, especially when Saïd's cabaret is closed down by the security forces.
As Abdelkader's FLN cell becomes more organised, attacks are staged on the police, including a daring assassination within a police station. The national security force is now hunting them, headed by the astute Colonel Faivre, who adopts the same hunt and kill tactics as the FLN. This results in the death of a young French woman sympathiser who had become close to Abdelkader, and who was about to accompany him to Germany where the FLN were amassing arms. Two coaches loaded with arms are brought back to France but one of the group is arrested by the police and divulges the rendezvous point. A gun battle ensues with national security officers and police support, during which Messaoud is injured. Saïd, however, having been tipped off that his brothers were in danger, arrives at the scene and the three escape, but Messaoud doesn't survive the journey. Of the three, he was the only one who had married, and he leaves a child.
Saïd's young boxer has successfully earned a match for the French title but Abdelkader learns that the FLN are going to kill his brother and the boxer if the fight goes ahead. Despite the risks Abdelkader goes to the fight to warn his brother, but Colonel Faivre and the national security officers are everywhere and, having stopped the fight, the two remaining brothers have to flee. Paris is full of demonstrators in support of Algerian independence and the brothers find themselves among some of them on a Métro platform, but Abdelkader can't resist taking up the call to arms and becomes the most vocal of the group, invoking fatal retaliation from the police. As Abdelkader's life ebbs away, Faivre acknowledges that the FNL had won.
On 1 July, 1962, six million Algerians cast their ballots in favour of independence in a referendum.
I found this an interesting film that prompted me to carry out more research into the background of these events. It certainly seems that the film may be somewhat unduly biased towards the Algerian point of view, but there again the French, like the British, did carry out some unsavoury actions in support of their colonial ambitions. I also found it interesting that many of the Algerians occupied what we would now call a shanty town at Nanterre, to the west of Paris, an area that I visited frequently when in Paris in 2013 and 2014.