Hors-la-loi

Greetings again from the darkness. I am certainly not qualified to offer an expert opinion as to the historical accuracy of the film, but I can say that it provides a seemingly realistic view of the horrible situation and struggles endured by the Algerians during their fight for independence from France during WWII.

The story is a sequential sequel to director Rachid Bouchareb's film "Paths of Glory" and centers around 3 brothers who are separated during the horrible massacre at Setif. Messaoud (Roschdy Zem who was the best thing about "The Girl from Monaco") goes off to fight as a soldier for France; Said (Jamel Debbouze) takes his mother and moves to Shantytown in France and becomes quite the street hustler; while Abdelkadan (Sami Bouajila) is imprisoned and absorbs all that he sees.

Each of the brothers endures much hardship until circumstances serve to reunite them in Shantytown and the real mission begins. Abdelkadan becomes the driving force behind the Algerian's FLN movement. He is the local figurehead and brains, while his brother Messaoud acts as the muscle and bodyguard. Brother Said continues his pursuit of money through shady night clubs and as a boxing promoter, but he is never far from his brothers' sides - even if he isn't quite as politically motivated.

I found all three brothers interesting in their own right, but the film is just so downbeat as it tells this story, that I just never felt engaged. That's not to say the mission of the Algerian people during these two decade period isn't amazing, because it certainly is. It's just this film doesn't really offer much in the form of telling the story. This one is nominated by the Academy for Best Foreign Film, so obviously many thought better of it than I.

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!!!!

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!

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.

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.