This sumptuous film is a celebration of the Trappist monks and the Rule. It is a thinly veiled sales job for the Catholic Church at a time when the Church needs all the help it can get.
Having said that, there is nothing wrong with filming a rose that, indeed, smells like a rose. Veteran French actor Lambert Wilson does the heavy lifting in this film as the nominal head of the Tibhirine Abbey in the northern highlands of Algeria. The film takes place between the years of 1993 and 1996.
The monks lived in peace amongst the native Muslim population for many years prior to their kidnapping by Islamic extremists in 1996. They provided educational and medical services to those around them who were engaged in survival agriculture and lived lives of sickness and ignorance.
So they story goes. In fact, the people around the monks lived much the same as they had lived for thousands of years before. The Monks were the last vestiges of French colonialism and they were a never-ending reminder to the population that although they had thrown the French out, they would never be completely without them, nor would they ever enjoy a civilized lifestyle without respecting Christianity. Therein lays the rub.
There was always a political message in the presence of the Trappists that is a cautionary tale for the neo-colonists of today. The beauty of this film is that it is able to walk the thin line between showing the respect due the Trappist martyrs of Tibhirine and showing respect for the Islamic terrorists who kidnapped and murdered them (Although the identities of the murderers are unknown, evidence points to the Armed Islamic Group with, or without, the participation of the Algerian army and special services.).
If Wilson’s character packs a wallop, the brief performances of the Islamic guerilla leader and the army leader are just as powerful.
From the documentary point of view, most viewers know they are going to get an inside look at Trappist life and they are not disappointed. The monks are completely self sufficient, performing all of the own cooking, cleaning and maintenance. Their lives revolve around prayer, meditation and that wonderful singing.
Large parts of every day are devoted to prayerful meditation while signing or chanting. This music has a haunting quality that goes back thousands of years. It is a thrill to behold.
This evolves into an inside look at the lives of the native Algerians and their intimate interaction with the Trappist Monks, providing an engrossing double story about two lifestyles very different from our own. The film is filled with beautiful photography of the northern mountain regions of Algeria, springing a remarkable surprise on landlocked Westerners.
The country is much more lush and green than most would imagine with deep snow and heavy rain, and would comprise an interesting travel destination for those who could afford it. No harm in mixing a little pro-tourism footage along with the heart-rending history.
The introduction of the radical Islamists provides yet another story. They are starving, injured and dying fighters in a civil war they barely understand. Nonetheless, they are in their own country and they are fighting for their own land.
Writer/director Xavier Beauvois’ screenplay does a great job of handling the nebulous position of the Algerian army. They are playing both ends from the middle and skillfully demonstrating a concern for the monks while trying to run them out of the country at the same time.
Although the film is true to the monks methods of communication and involves little dialog, this hampers the film as a tool for political discourse. This is frustrating because there are so many ideas to be debated.
There is fertile ground here to discuss possibilities, ramifications and historical contexts but such topics are left untouched. Perhaps the point of the film is that such debates are beside the point. The only message that counts is the message one carries inside one’s soul.
Directed and Written by: Xavier Beauvois
Starring: Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale
Runtime: 106 minutes
Source: M&C