Review of Of Gods and Men (2010) by Adam W — 15 Jan 2011

Of Gods and Men has been a major success at the French box office since release and an art-house hit in the UK. The film is about a group of Cictercian monks in Algeria who are embedded in their local community as providers of produce grown on their small farm, providers of faith and most importantly, providers of medical services on the part of Luc, the Doctor among the group.

As much as they are respected in their community, they are put under increasing pressure from Algerian insurgents and latterly the Algerian government to return to France and avoid being used as political pawns in the civil war.

We learn that these men come to ponder the decision to stay or go in different ways; some are defiant in their feelings to remain and continue to help their community and some are afraid of the possibility of their death.

It is by showing the resolution of this central tenet of the film that director Xavier Beauvois reveals the heart of their plight and the tensions are shown through their solidarity in prayer and their isolation in their faith.

Is taking the oath an acceptance of death; the death of your former life and the transposing of the soul to God or does one owe a duty to the flesh and preserving its future? A contemplative but engrossing film that will endure in the mind and offers hope of intelligent cinema crossing over to box office success.