Of Gods and Men (2011) Film Review

2 hrs.

Starring: Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale

Directed by: Xavier Beauvois

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Critic's Rating: *** stars (out of 4 stars)

No doubt that filmmaker Xavier Beauvois's penetrating art house hit Of Gods and Men has made an incredible impact in its native home base in France. The premise is poignant and shocking as Beauvois delves into "based on true events" mode. Incredibly, Of Gods and Men tells the mid 90's account of how seven French monks were kidnapped and eventually murdered in Algeria at the hands of Islamic terrorists. Algeria, a former French colony, was the unsettling stage for unrest during the 1996 civil war that took place in the region.

Harrowing and explicitly piercing, Of Gods and Men hits the nerves with blunt introspection. Beauvois thoroughly examines the futile boundaries of humanity. The film is thought-provoking and convincingly executed from the solid acting to the fictionalized recollection of the hard-nosed experiences that hovered over the human chaos and national despair. The direction is structurally quaint and reflectively involving as Beauvois engages the audience with this tense but low key approach to an outcry that obviously resonates with biting forethought.

The whereabouts of the murdered monks' killers is uncertain. Also, the ultimate question is raised incredulously: why did these vulnerable monks choose to stay in hostile territory as these dangerous rebels exchanged deadly animosity? Were they devoted to their monastery in the North African mountains were duty called to bring peace and promise to the local Arabs at any cost? What were the intimidating factors that caused the head-shaking demise to these holy men touting virtues of brotherhood? Whatever the circumstances, the unclear notion as to why these seven monks perished in the middle of an insane war is quite intriguing and challenging to comprehend.

Lead monk Christian (Lambert Wilson) is insistent on remaining stationary and standing strong amid the violent attacks by warring factions. Brother Christian believes that God's guidance and spiritual heft will safeguard the monastery and the residents from the volume of destruction. Interestingly turning down the offered protection from the government, Brother Christian chooses to invest in God's fate...something his colleagues are understandably skeptical about at this point. Regardless of the terrorists' intimidating tactics to shake up the monastery and the surrounding bystanders Brother Christian remained vigilant in his stance. Is Brother Christian playing high stakes with the lives of his associates by undermining the fiery fundamentalists? Better yet, why is there some reserved cynicism for the government officials that want to support the safety of the monastery? Is there something shady that Brother Christian knows about his so-called "protectors"?

The fact that the monks want to live an austere and useful life is a given. Naturally what underscores this meditative gesture is the ominous backlash of war and politics that look to bring more divisive boundaries within the Islamic community under attack.

Although the writing is on the wall, Brother Christian overlooks the signs of imminent peril. The terrorists are targeting everything in sight-fellow Algerians, impressionable minors, foreigners, Croatian construction workers, French Christians...all are potential guinea pigs for the fundamental rebels to disturb with surging malice. Even a Christmas Eve invasion of the monastery by the terrorists does not phase the determined Brother Christian.

The deep-seeded Of Gods and Men asks many revolving inquiries of faith, belief and the internal struggle of mankind's confliction with intolerance. Beauvois constructs a solid story about religious men that are as gentle as they are adamant about their trust in the artistry of God and the uncertainties of the tormented human condition. Facing adversity and confronting the demons in unapologetic masses is disturbing yet heartfelt in the manner which Beauvois conveys his frightening yet insightful fable.

Whether the liberating elements of witnessing a memorable scene involving the last supper of these perished monks or absorbing the reassuring sounds of a Tchaikovsky tune soothingly emerging from the radio one thing is clear-the vibrating message Of Gods and Men is distinctively chilling in its elegance and devastatingly real in its reckless finality.