Des hommes et des dieux (2010) - film review

In the 1990s, eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers at a monastery set high in the mountains of North Africa.   When a team of foreign workers is massacred by an Islamist group, the region is seized by terror.  The army offers protection to the monks, but they refuse.  Despite the growing threats around them, the monks decide that they must stay, whatever the cost...

In the course of the five films that he has made over the past two decades, actor-turned-director Xavier Beauvois has acquired something of a reputation as an enfant terrible of the French auteur film school.  He has a record of tackling difficult yet worthy subjects (AIDS, social exclusion, police brutality, depression, alcoholism) in a way that is both provocative and emotionally raw, social realism tinged with a dark poetry and well-developed sense of irony.  His latest film represents a continuation of this fascination with the gloomier side of human experience, yet it is also a departure into a more intimate and introspective style of cinema.  Des hommes et des dieux is just as bleak and dramatic in its subject matter as Beauvois’ previous offerings but it is far more measured in its style and tone, and consequently far more engaging.  Xavier no longer needs to shout to get his message across.

The film is based on a true story that dominated the French newspaper headlines in May 1996 - the abduction of seven French Cistercian monks from their monastery at Tibhirine, Algeria, by a band of Islamic extremists and their subsequent killing.  To this day, the details surrounding the deaths of the monks is shrouded in mystery.  At the time, the killings were attributed to the monks’ kidnappers but a French general later admitted that they were probably accidentally killed by the Algerian army, who then staged an elaborate cover-up.  Sensibly, Beauvois does not allow himself to be sidetracked by this blame game but instead focuses on the events that led up to the tragic outcome, from the perspective of the monks.

This a film that explores the conflict between faith and fear, showing how believers are able to draw strength from their faith in a situation of intense stress and spiritual crisis.  By making the decision to stay at their monastery and not be driven away by the threat of terrorist atrocity, the eight monks are not just reaffirming their belief in the Almighty.  They are making a collective statement that human will is more powerful than any weapon a terrorist may employ.  They place the needs of the community they serve above their own individual concerns and whilst their martyrdom has an inevitability about it the final victory is theirs - their faith has triumphed over their human frailty.  

The film is an exhortation of the necessity to avoid giving into fear - a message that cannot be repeated enough in our present troubled times.  Just as topical is its depiction of two religions - Christianity and Islam - living side by side in harmony and working together for mutual advantage.  The monks are not locked away in their Ivory Tower, nor are they concerned with converting the native population to their creed.  Instead, they respect and serve their Muslim neighbours, who show them kindness in return.   The film offers a glimpse of a multi-faith Utopia, albeit one that is marred by the acts of a twisted minority, those who allow their beliefs to be perverted by misguided political ambitions.  Had he chosen, Beauvois could have used this as an opportunity to rail against the Islamic backlash that followed 9/11 and the flawed military escapades that ensued, a backlash that has recently been reinvigorated by the decision to build an Islamic centre in the vicinity of Ground Zero.  Surprisingly, he doesn’t do this but allows the spectator to draw parallels between what we see in this film and events taking place in the world today.

This is not an overtly political film (in contrast to much of Beauvois’ previous oeuvre) but it has a keen political resonance.  Rather, it is a humane and perceptive exploration of the human psyche, showing how a group of individuals manage to reconcile their faith with their natural human reactions to a crisis.  The film’s striking chiaroscuro cinematography powerfully evokes this tumultuous inner struggle and compels the spectator to share the journey undertaken by the protagonists as they tread the path that will lead them to their doom and their salvation.   That we end up feeling, and feeling intensely, for every one of the characters is testament not only to the quality of Beauvois’ work as a writer and director, but also to the authenticity of the contributions from a talented ensemble cast, headed by Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale.  Des hommes et des dieux is a remarkable film, powerfully moving and highly relevant for our era, a worthy recipient of the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2010.

© James Travers 2010

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