Film No. 53 (2015) Far From Men 20th July.

Film No. 53 (2015) July 20th.  2.30 PM LUNA Paradiso, Northbridge. 

"I join you my way by educating my pupils" (Daru explains how he contributes to his people's fight for independence)

 

Far From Men    (Loin des hommes)

Viggo Mortensen is becoming the face of the lone hero, battling against the odds to reveal what is right and true. In most cases he plays a character with a past and while that past is not always morally balanced there comes a time to right the wrongs. A History of Violence and The Road remain favourites of mine, mainly due to the brilliance of Mortensen. Far From Men is the equal to these two powerful films.

Inspired by the Albert Camus short story The Guest we are taken into the Algerian tundra to meet Daru (Mortensen) a pacifist working as a teacher for the goat herder's children of the region. The time is 1954 and the Algerians are fighting the French for their own sovereignty. Daru is of Spanish extraction but he has grown up amongst the French. His aim is to teach the young Algerians so that they might think for themselves and thus have a vision for their own future. Daru's world changes when he is forced by his French contemporaries to transport (by foot) an Algerian prisoner to a nearby town to face trial for murder.

Road Movies come in many forms but few are as unique as Far From Men. Daru resents the fact his prisoner Mohamed (Reda Kateb) has short circuited the new life he has dedicated himself to, but as the journey unfolds and the layers of Daru's past are peeled back, new choices are made by both our intrepid travelers.

All the elements of great film making come together in this human drama. No dialogue is wasted, as the most insignificant of conversations built layer by layer the scaffold to this central relationship. The rugged backdrop complements the human challenges so desperately depicted. Then finally the earthy soundtrack so wonderfully derived by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis bring an extra dimension to the story. The fork in the road conclusion could so easily have been cliched, but it produced a "cracker" of an ending.  10GUMS.