Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Billy Wonka (A) on June 16, 2013 at 13:10:37

An idealistic young lieutenant (Benoît Magimel) comes to Algeria (1959) to replace a recently killed platoon officer. The platoon is handled by the highly experienced sergeant (Albert Dupontel) who must educate his new platoon leader. The film chronicles the fight against the FLN and the effect the brutal guerrilla war has on both Magimel and Dupontel.

Feeling a lot like 'Platoon' this film shows the nastiness of war in believable fashion which changes all who experience it. Magimel does a great job as the fresh-faced lieutenant and Dupontel is spot-on as the wise, war-weary vet. The film has a high degree of violence and suffering but so does war. (Neflix stream.)



The film denotes that 500K conscripts were sent to Algeria and that France did not officially called the FLN rebellion a "war" until 1999. 27K French troops died during the conflict.