Film Review
The uglier aspects of France's involvement in the Algerian War come
under the spotlight in this compelling courtroom drama, masterfully
directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer. Prior to this, Schoendoerffer
had won acclaim for two other notable films about similarly doomed
colonial conflicts -
La 317e Section (1965) and
La Section Anderson (1967) - which
powerfully evoked the trauma and sacrifices of the Indochina and
Vietnam wars. Even as late as the 1980s, the Algerian War was
still pretty much a taboo subject in France. In the previous
decade, a number of film directors had attempted to broach the subject,
but their efforts were frustrated by the government and the military
and a barrage of silence prevailed. It was not until 1999 that
the French state finally recognised that its conflict with Algeria had
actually been a war, and rightly so, as it claimed the lives of 30,000
French soldiers.
Schoendoerffer's film was not the first to allude to torture being used
by the French military in achieving its objectives in Algeria.
Five years previously, Laurent Heynemann's
La
Question (1977) presented a firsthand account of torture and
left not the slightest margin of doubt that electrocution and water
torture had been routinely practiced by French paratroopers as a means
of extracting information from FLN members and
sympathisers. Schoendoerffer's film is somewhat less
Manichean in its approach and, far from seeking to apportion blame or
justify the use of torture, it shows how complex and muddled the
Algerian situation was, with trivial errors leading to the most
appalling of consequences (illustrated in the film by the
misunderstanding of the term
descendez-le!).
In the film, what begins as a trial to restore the honour of one French
officer soon turns into a trial of France's handling of its painful
process of decolonisation. Unlike many of his contemporaries who
have tackled the same subject, Schoendoerffer adopts an even-handed
approach and has no political axe to grind.
L'Honneur d'un capitaine recognises
simply that the Algerian War was a tragedy for both France and Algeria
and that there is nothing to be gained by scapegoating soldiers who
fought and died in the conflict. War is an ugly business and, in
the heat of battle and the struggle to survive, mistakes are bound to
be made. Whilst Schoendoerffer does not shirk from showing us the
atrocities committed on both sides, he urges us not to rush to
judgement. The fault lies not with the soldiers (mostly boys)
enduring the Hell of the combat zone, but with naive political leaders
who, time and again, allow themselves to be duped into believing that
war is a means to an end. War is never an easy solution.
© James Travers 2012
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Next Pierre Schoendoerffer film:
Pêcheur d'Islande (1959)
Film Synopsis
In the course of a television debate on the Algerian War in the early 1980s,
Professor Paulet denounces the use of torture by French troops during
the conflict. To support his thesis, he cites the case of Captain
Caron, an officer who died in combat in 1957. The captain's
widow, Patricia, is outraged and decides to sue Paulet for defamation,
with her uncle, a distinguished lawyer, leading the prosecution.
As Paulet's former comrades in arms are summoned to the witness stand
it becomes apparent that the circumstances of Paulet's last tour of
duty in Algeria are complex and open to interpretation. Whilst it
is true that Algerian rebels were tortured and killed by the unit that
was under Paulet's command, it is unclear that the captain was directly
responsible for the atrocities he is accused of...
© James Travers
The above content is owned by filmsdefrance.com and must not be copied.