{"id":16681,"date":"2012-09-22T22:03:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-22T20:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=16681"},"modified":"2017-10-20T13:56:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-20T11:56:47","slug":"powerful-french-movie-hors-la-loi-outside-the-law-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/powerful-french-movie-hors-la-loi-outside-the-law-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Powerful French Movie: “Hors-la-loi” (Outside the Law)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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If you were looking to discover a new powerful French movie, then here is one strongly recommended for you to watch: It’s called “Hors-la-loi<\/strong><\/em><\/span>” (“Outside the Law<\/span>.<\/strong>“)<\/p>\n

One film reviewer had this to say about it: “A tense, energetic historical\u00a0drama on a grand scale — somewhere between Bertolucci and Michael Mann.<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

In the previous post, we introduced it by talking about the actor who played\u00a0Lucien<\/strong>\u00a0in “Le Fabuleux Destin d’Am\u00e9lie Poulain.<\/em><\/strong>”<\/p>\n

You can find the movie intro in full\u00a0here<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Today, we’ll go through the historical backdrop of the storyline.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=KiHTBTAfYoo<\/a><\/p>\n

Trailer of “Hors-la-loi<\/em>” (“Outside the Law”) by Movie Director Rachid Bouchareb<\/strong><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

When the\u00a0Second World War<\/strong>\u00a0came to a long-overdue end,\u00a0hundred\u00a0thousands of\u00a0Algerians<\/strong>, whose country had been -it must be emphasized-\u00a0illegally\u00a0occupied by\u00a0France<\/strong>\u00a0since\u00a01830<\/strong>, poured in the streets to celebrate the end of the war.<\/p>\n

They went out to celebrate\u00a0V-Day<\/strong>\u00a0(“Victory Day<\/strong>“, that is),\u00a0just like every country in the world—well, except, of course, for the “Axis Countries<\/strong>“,\u00a0Germany’s Third Reich<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Japan\u00a0<\/strong>(Italy<\/strong>\u00a0had already gotten rid of its\u00a0“Il Duce<\/em>” Mussolini<\/strong>\u00a0by then, so they had two reasons to celebrate.)<\/p>\n

Among the demonstrators in Algeria were native Algerian soldiers enlisted in the French army, whose participation in the war proved instrumental in the\u00a0liberation of\u00a0France\u00a0from the Nazis.<\/p>\n

The demonstrations were mainly held in the Algerian cities of\u00a0Setif<\/strong>,\u00a0Constantine<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Skikda.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

But what was more, the demonstrators waved\u00a0Algerian flags<\/strong>, and chanted demands ranging from\u00a0le droit de l’autod\u00e9termination\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>(self-determination right)\u00a0to\u00a0the full and\u00a0immediate\u00a0independence<\/strong>\u00a0of Algeria.<\/p>\n

During the War, the French government, in desperate need for soldiers to fight the Nazi military machine, appealed to Algerians, who were then living under very harsh colonial conditions. They were promised freedom once they helped bring the war to a successful end.<\/p>\n

That’s all the demonstrators were asking for, on\u00a0V-Day, May 8th, 1945: <\/strong>To grant them the freedom they were promised. They fully deserved it, especially after fighting side by side with the French, if not always in the frontline, to kick the Nazis out of France.<\/p>\n

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