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Far From Men / Loin des Hommes (2015)
Director: David Oelhoffen
Story by: Albert Camus
Screenplay: David Oelhoffen
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb
Far From Men, the English title for a French-Language film called Loin des Hommes, is about two men navigating the early stages of the Algerian War for Independence. Daru (Viggo Mortensen), a veteran of the WWII North Africa campaign, plays a school teacher, we see him teaching history to a class of entirely Arab kids in an attempt to better their world, but he is also a member of the white privileged class. Early in the film, a Frenchmen brings him an Arab (Mohammed, played by Reda Kateb) who is tied to, asks him to take the Arab to another town where he is to be tried and likely executed for killing his cousin. Daru refuses at first, and then reluctantly agrees to take him there once he realizes the Arab will certainly die if left to his own devices. The movie is based on The Guest / L'Hote by the great French philosopher Albert Camus.
The movie's plot is that we follow these two men as they make a walking journey to the other town, which is a few days of walking, along the way they encounter ruins, bad weather, Algerian resistance, and French oppressors. What really matters though, is the character work. Both Daru and Mohammed have their destinies determined in whole by the way, in manners not of their choosing and there's nothing they can do about it.
Daru (Viggo Mortensen speaks a great French btw), doesn't want to be involved with the Algerian Independence War. He supports Independence, but he has seen enough fighting and he just wants to be a school teacher, to do good. Though he is born in Algeria, he is seen as a Frenchmen. The entire movie is his own struggle to not be involved, even as there are various forces and people pulling him in, that I can't describe without pulling. Similarly with Mohammed, he comes off as pathetic and somewhat of a loser at first, though eventually we learn that he is actually a phenomenally brave man, motivated by nothing more than a love of his own family and his younger brothers, and his desire for their safety. He too, is being pulled by the conflicts in that world, but not by that between Algeria and France, but that between different Algerians in his own village.
Far From Men is quite the journey. In its brisk 1 hour 50 minute runtime, we learn the life stories of these two men, we see them form a bond as true and strong as that of any two men we know, we see the early stages of the Algerian war of independence, we learn a lot about Algeria, and we see in action the theme that there can be no neutrality in subjects of war.
Aside: Though there were distracting English-language subtitles at the bottom, I was able to listen to the French the whole time, everybody enunciated properly, I only used the subtitles when the characters spoke Arabic ... which Mortensen apparently also speaks.
Director: David Oelhoffen
Story by: Albert Camus
Screenplay: David Oelhoffen
Rotten Tomatoes: 79%
Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Reda Kateb
Far From Men, the English title for a French-Language film called Loin des Hommes, is about two men navigating the early stages of the Algerian War for Independence. Daru (Viggo Mortensen), a veteran of the WWII North Africa campaign, plays a school teacher, we see him teaching history to a class of entirely Arab kids in an attempt to better their world, but he is also a member of the white privileged class. Early in the film, a Frenchmen brings him an Arab (Mohammed, played by Reda Kateb) who is tied to, asks him to take the Arab to another town where he is to be tried and likely executed for killing his cousin. Daru refuses at first, and then reluctantly agrees to take him there once he realizes the Arab will certainly die if left to his own devices. The movie is based on The Guest / L'Hote by the great French philosopher Albert Camus.
The movie's plot is that we follow these two men as they make a walking journey to the other town, which is a few days of walking, along the way they encounter ruins, bad weather, Algerian resistance, and French oppressors. What really matters though, is the character work. Both Daru and Mohammed have their destinies determined in whole by the way, in manners not of their choosing and there's nothing they can do about it.
Daru (Viggo Mortensen speaks a great French btw), doesn't want to be involved with the Algerian Independence War. He supports Independence, but he has seen enough fighting and he just wants to be a school teacher, to do good. Though he is born in Algeria, he is seen as a Frenchmen. The entire movie is his own struggle to not be involved, even as there are various forces and people pulling him in, that I can't describe without pulling. Similarly with Mohammed, he comes off as pathetic and somewhat of a loser at first, though eventually we learn that he is actually a phenomenally brave man, motivated by nothing more than a love of his own family and his younger brothers, and his desire for their safety. He too, is being pulled by the conflicts in that world, but not by that between Algeria and France, but that between different Algerians in his own village.
Far From Men is quite the journey. In its brisk 1 hour 50 minute runtime, we learn the life stories of these two men, we see them form a bond as true and strong as that of any two men we know, we see the early stages of the Algerian war of independence, we learn a lot about Algeria, and we see in action the theme that there can be no neutrality in subjects of war.
Aside: Though there were distracting English-language subtitles at the bottom, I was able to listen to the French the whole time, everybody enunciated properly, I only used the subtitles when the characters spoke Arabic ... which Mortensen apparently also speaks.
