Outside the Law

source: Outside the Law

France invaded Algeria in 1830, launching a scorched-earth policy. For over 100 years, Algeria was France's prize colony in North Africa, with French forces brutalizing the Algerians in every way imaginable. So it was inevitable that the Algerians would eventually rise up against the French. Rachid Bouchareb's "Hors la loi" ("Outside the Law" in English) looks at three brothers who participate in Algeria's war for independence, and the France's draconian policies in trying to suppress it (I've read about how the French army tortured Algerian prisoners during the war). While France may have generally been a democracy, the Algerians living there experienced a police state. The conditions under which the French forced them to live might as well have been the townships in apartheid South Africa. Obviously I can't vouch for the accuracy of everything depicted in the movie. What I can say is that it shows the desperation of the Algerians amid the sheer level of violence inflicted on them by the French. The opening scene reminded me of what happened to the family in John Sayles's "Secret of Roan Inish". I don't know how much the Algerians in France get considered "truly French". My guess is not much. When I spent a week with a family in France, they took me to a party and one of the guests was from Algeria. Most recently, Emmanuel Macron refused to apologize to Algeria for France's treatment of the country. Full reconciliation probably won't come any time soon.

On 5 July 2012 Algeria will commemorate 50 years of independence. 'Hors-la-loi' thematically exploits Algeria's struggle for its liberation from France. The sum and substance of the film is a family saga of how three brothers take part in, and react to organizing the Algeria resistance in metropolitan France: Abelkader is the brains, Messaoud, the brawn, and Said, a pimp and fight promoter in Pigalle, who, in the end redeems his bona fide as a patriot. From the reenactment of colonial repression in Setif in 1945 until independence in 1962, 'Hors-la-loi' is told by the numbers. The acting is uninspired; at times, it is lethargic, and the story seemingly never looses its cartoon-like character. Although director Rachid Bouchareb's heart is in the right place, the film has the feel of re-enforced concrete. Bouchareb would have been bettered serve in documentary film format, to spool out the his theme.

I was expecting a bit more from this movie. The conflict in mainland France between the French government and Algerians fighting for independence between the 1940's and the 1960's seems ready made material for a gripping movie. The film wears its heart on its sleeve. The first scene shows an Algerian farmer being given a few days to vacate his land to allow a French colonist take it over. The farmers three sons are the main protagonists for the rest of the film. One joins the French army, one is arrested in 1945 and imprisoned in France and the third moves to France with their mother in the hope of finding a better life. We follow the brothers progress as two of them become involved in the independence movement and the third makes his money as a pimp and and nightclub owner. For some reason, even though the injustices perpetrated by the French government are undoubtedly heinous the movie never convinced me to empathise with the brothers situation. I thought the film dragged a lot as we follow the progress of their differing but intersecting careers through the 1950's and early 1960's. The movie's climax is a rather traditional shoot out with the police followed by a chase through the Paris metro. While the movie is technically well made and the acting in general is excellent for me it is a chance missed to make a great movie about this traumatic period in the relationship between France and Algeria.

It is tough to show both sides of the same medallion, but the movie tries to do just that. It's true that there is a predictability to it, but the characters portrayed by really good french actors give it their best and the movie is worth watching. It is of course handled as mixture drama/thriller to attract a bigger audience, but that does not have to be a bad thing. I personally liked the Grey area kind of handling/treatment the story received, but I can see why some felt it wasn't rooting for one side or didn't engage the viewer with more involvement in the story. But the characters all act naturally and upon their instinct(s). Of course some things are convenient and to get more information on the background you might need to do further research (and/or look at the deleted scenes of the movie), but that is true of many "historical" (or "based on") movies!

Well I neither have the expert historical perspective or the expertise on films of other reviewers, but I'm just an ordinary person who went to see this movie. I loved it because it really shows how people can get sucked into resistance, even if they're very ordinary and not particularly brave, because the other option of not doing anything is so awful. I thought the acting was very convincing and I learnt a lot about that time in Algeria. I spend a lot of time in the south of France so I think this helped me to understand the history of some of the people I know. Goodness me this site wants me to write 10 lines. No wonder everyone else's reviews are so long. I watched it a long time ago when it first came out and so I don't have a clear memory of details, just the overall impression, and I wanted to share that.

The standalone sequel to Rachid Bouchareb's 2006 film Days of Glory,Hors-la-loi starts at a time on which the previous movie ended. The Algerian-African soldiers, who fought for France against the Nazi Germany in the previous movie, this time, fight against the imperial France for Algeria's independence. The fact that some actors have acted in both movies create a sense of interconnection, indeed. Against the backdrop of patriotic struggles of three Algerian brothers, the movie questions both the legacy of modern Western Europe and the hard-line policies of Algerian front of national liberation. From the three brothers, Abdelkader (Sami Bouajila) does a long stint in jail because of his opinions. Messaoud ( Roschdy Zem) goes on serving France as a soldier in the revolt against French rule known as the First Indochina War. He gets impressed by the determined struggle of the local Vietnamese. Saïd (Jamel Debbouze) feels obliged to leave his hometown Setif after the known massacre. He just takes his mom and leaves for France. Though he is not as politically motivated as the other two brothers he always takes his place beside his brothers. Abd-el-Kader, along with the help of Massoud, awakens a new soul of liberation movement in places like Renault workshops and local pubs. Said runs a cabaret and organizes box matches in a place where he started off as a pimp. Using Algerians in false ID and disguise, the liberation movement executes every important French police officer or soldier. The French decide to fight 'terrorism' with its own weapons so they create a secret organization which takes the appearance of a criminal organization and they indulge in 'terrorism' too. In some ways, Bouchareb's movie reminded me of "La battaglia di Algeri " but Bouchareb should take credits for his guts. He never tries to present the viewer a rosy picture of the revolution. The liberation movement does not recognize love or brotherhood on the grounds that there should be no personal passion and gain. Just because the cause is just, the party takes away every individual value out the lives of its members. That's why Massoud never sees his son grow up properly and Abdelkader threatens to kill his brother if he lets his boxer fight for France. Besides,the movie does not ignore the clash between two separate Algerian nationalist movements, MNA and FLN. Some right-wing French people criticize the movie because of its so called 'anachronisms' and some others call it even 'anti-French' but Bouchareb does not really anathematize the French. In the movie we see communist French activists who actually help the struggle of Algerians. Bouhareb may have forgotten that cinema is, on some levels, a light entertainment. He may not have made the perfect movie which is about conveying the whole truth, but at least he tried to do portray a part of his country's immediate past. Outside the Law is not an anti-French movie but it is surely an anti-colonial movie which deserves critical acclaim.

First of all this is my first review! So why did i choose this movie? Because in my opinion this movie is really underrated and has a low score which is a shame! The other reviewers say that this is a sequel to "Days of Glory" , i have not seen "Days of Glory" but "Hors-la-loi" is a great piece of cinema. Many people such as myself rely on IMDb score and user reviews prior to seeing a movie , and many may be putt off by a score of 6.5 , but believe me and give this one a chance. It's a gritty and noir movie which tells its story without holding back anything! The acting is very good the directing likewise and the cinematography is great. Overall it has some flaws but there are no perfect movies. So if you like movies in general and don't care about the little things than WATCH THIS MOVIE!!!!

Outside the Law details a period in French-Algerian history from the end of the Second World War to Algerian independence. It follows three Algerian brothers who move to France and take completely different paths. One of them joins the French army, another becomes a political radical, while the third embarks of a life of crime. All of them are eventually brought together in the unified cause of Algerian independence and equal rights. It begins and ends with notorious bloody events. Much seems to have been made about the liberties that this film has taken with the facts surrounding certain key historical events. I am not in any position to say if this is a justified complaint or not, as I simply do not know. However, I think it's only fair to say that the plot-line follows a historically accurate path; whether or not the emphasis of events is skewered or not I can't say but, if so, it would not be the first time in cinema history that a film exaggerates for dramatic effect. Whatever the case, it's certainly a period in history that hasn't been depicted in films very often from what I can gather. While I did enjoy the film, I didn't think it was nearly as good as Rachid Bouchareb's earlier film Days of Glory. That latter film dealt with a similar theme - the difficulties French Algerians have experienced in their adopted land. I felt that Outside the Law didn't share that movie's sympathetic characters or its dynamic plot trajectory. It's overall a much more down-beat story.