Film Review
The 1970s saw the release of several important films in France dealing with
the grim reality of the Algerian War and its bitter aftermath. René
Vautier's
Avoir 20
ans dans les Aurès (1972), Yves Boisset's
R.A.S. (1973) and Laurent Heynemann's
La Question (1977) deal with
the war itself and were highly controversial in their presentation of the
failings of the French government and military during the conflict.
Le Complot is no less provocative but it concerns itself with what
took place after the signing of the Évian Accords which made Algerian
Independence a certainty in 1962 - an attempt by the OAS (Organisation de
l'Armée secrète), a paramilitary group of rightwing dissidents,
to provoke a civil war in France and ensure that Algeria remained a French
territory. There was even a plot to assassinate President de Gaulle,
and this provided the inspiration for Frederick Forsyth's novel
The Day
of the Jackal and its subsequent
screen adaptation.
What is most surprising about
Le Complot is how even-handed it is.
It doesn't condemn the actions of the OAS, even though the many atrocities
the organisation committed over the course of its brief history are well
documented. In moral terms, there appears to be little to distinguish
the OAS's leaders - who include military officers with impeccable careers
behind them - and the senior staff in the police and security forces who
are tasked with thwarting their final campaign of terror. It is a war
of nerves, fought by men of courage and honour who are equally committed
to their cause. It just so happens that one side is on the wrong side
of history and must inevitably fail. It is possible to believe sincerely
in a cause but at the same time be utterly wrong - this is the film's obvious
subtext, and one which could just as equally apply to France's diabolical
handling of the Algerian situation as to the misguided activities of the
OAS.
In a career that was pretty well undistinguished - his only other notable
films are
Le Démoniaque
(1968) and
Alyse et Chloé
(1970) - René Gainville shows surprising deftness in his direction
of
Le Complot. His sober approach allows the film to play as
an intelligent commentary on the divided loyalties to which the military,
police and security services were all prone at this crucial moment in French
history, rather than just another sensationalist thriller. Gainville's
pared back mise-en-scène gives the film an oppressive, claustrophobic
feel and stylistically the film lies somewhere between the coldly realist
films that Costa-Gravas and Jean-Pierre Melville were making around this
time.
The few action sequences the film offers are authentically staged and bring
sporadic bursts of grittiness that make a striking counterpoint to the controlled
battle of wills between an iron-willed police chief played by Michel Bouquet
and his OAS counterpart, Jean Rochefort. The most memorable scene in
the film is a nail biting stand-off between a tough Michel Duchaussoy and
even tougher Raymond Pellegrin. Needless to say, all of these great
actors acquit themselves with performances that are frighteningly convincing
and never less than gripping. The supporting actors (Daniel Ceccaldi,
Maurice Biraud, Marina Vlady, Robert Castel) also deserve praise for making
this such a compelling drama.
Does
Le Complot paint too rosy a picture of the OAS? From this
distance in time, it is hard to judge but compared with today's brand of
terrorists, who seem to revel in mass slaughter whilst pursuing objectives
that have not the remotest chance of coming to pass, the OAS at least had
some rational basis for its existence and activities, loathsome though these
undoubtedly are. Some will judge the film for being too generous in
its portrayal of the OAS, but it is worth remembering that no player in the
Algerian War came out of it with unalloyed glory. The French government,
the military, the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN) and the OAS all
had the blood of innocents on their hands and reasons to hang their heads
in shame once the conflict had been laid to rest.
Le Complot's
overriding virtue is that, instead of simplifying the issue and painting
one side white and the other black, it leaves us with a sense of how hopelessly
muddled the situation was, with honourable men duped by their conscience
into sanctioning the most appalling acts - all in the name of patriotism.
© James Travers 2016
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