"Sacrifice" is a much over-used word. One human's sacrifice is another human's no-big-deal. When it comes to sacrificing life for an ideal or a belief, it may be another story, told brilliantly in "Of Gods and Men," a French film based on a real event, the 1996 killing of six French Cistercian Trappist monks by Algerian rebels.
Xavier Beauvois' movie, winner of the Gran Prix at Cannes last year, is an exquisite, painful and heart-rending tale of these Frenchmen, willing to die at the merciless hands of the rebels rather than run away back home to France. Living in the desolate Atlas mountains, the monks raise bees and collect honey. They pray and they do good to the impoverished villagers who live nearby.
Brother Luc, a physician by training and life-long practice, treats them, provides shoes to those who are in need. Michel Lonsdale, a 79-year-old French character actor, is well-nigh perfect in the role. Lonsdale also has the line that causes a great deal of thought as he quotes 17th-century French philosopher Blaise Pascal, "Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from a religious conviction."
Beauvois, who collaborated on the screenplay with Etienne Comar, has turned what might have been a slow, even-tedious tale into a study of ethics and morality–and peace, as well–among these men, thanks also to the impressive work of Caroline Champetier, director of photography, and editor Marie-Julie Maille.
The acting, led by Lonsdale, Lambert Wilson as Christian, the spiritual leader of the men; Olivier Rabourdin as Christophe and Jacques Herlin as Amedee, is staggering in its simplicity. Watching these men silently agree to stay and face almost-certain death is a moving experience, and a lengthy, silent scene when the men open some wine and dine in a setting that bears overtones of the last supper, is heart-rending. Its drama is magnified by the use of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" as background. Movie-goers will be interested, or amused, by the use of the identical ballet music in a crucial scene in "The Black Swan."
This is an almost-perfect motion picture. Highly recommended.
Of Gods and Men opens today at the Plaza Frontenac
—Joe