Xavier Beauvois‘s ‘Des hommes et des dieux‘ (a title that was translated into English with a reversal of nouns as ‘Of Gods and Men‘) addresses the complex issue of confronting terrorism in the Arab world by focusing on an event with a strong symbolic and emotional charge that took place in 1996 – the taking of hostages and the tragic death of seven monks in a Trappist monastery in the mountains of Algeria. To be more precise, most of the film is about the events that preceded the actions of the terrorists, the coexistence of the monks with the surrounding Muslim population and their moral and religious dilemmas. This is a different point of view from most films that deal with this area of conflict, a perspective that gives originality to the approach but which in the end is also the main weakness of the film.
There are many beautiful moments in ‘Des hommes et des dieux‘. The landscapes of the Atlas Mountains, the chapel and the refectory of the monastery, the adjacent village are filmed with a cinematic lens in which aesthetics and love each have their share. Some of the takes have the dramatic beauty of paintings by Caravaggio or El Greco. The human landscape is of the same chosen quality, especially when it comes to the nine monks (seven of whom will end tragically) and the villagers. Each of the nine men represents a distinct personality, the interpretations are simple and profound at the same time, their dedication and dilemmas are rigorously experienced by the actors and shared with the spectators. It would be worth mentioning all the names, I will not do it, I will only mention Lambert Wilson in the role of Father Christian and Michael Lonsdale in the role of the doctor and Brother Luc, who, I think, create in this film two of the best roles in their careers.
The perspective presented is beautiful and emotional. It’s hard not to be moved and to admire the dedication of these people who choose to live in the middle of a community in a foreign country, helping people belonging to a foreign religion, without missionary intentions (at least nothing is visible in the film). Their dilemma is tragic. Few people today choose the option (even as a risk) of martyrdom. But here lays also the main problem of the film. The events are well known, the rhetoric of martyrdom as well as the idealization of the relations between villagers and monks sound good and very politically correct, but they are too idealized to be totally credible. The complex aspects of the conflicts, starting from the sources of terrorism, the corruption of the army and the civil administration and the historical role played by French colonialism are touched very partially or not at all. ‘Des hommes et des dieux‘ proposes a beautiful and original cinematic vision, but only a partial perspective of a complicated reality.