Free Men (Ismael Ferroukhi, 2011): France

Reviewed by Christopher Connor. Viewed at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.

Free Men tells the story of an Algerian immigrant, Younes, who ends up joining the French Resistance to fight against the Nazi Occupation and Vichy France. Starting off selling black market goods to help support himself and his family back in Algeria, he is soon caught by the French police and asked to collaborate by spying on a mosque and its participants in Paris. Initially, he agrees, giving them information in return for freedom and money. This all changes when he befriends a Jewish singer, observes relations at the mosque, and is attracted by a beautiful woman played by Incendies‘ Lubna Azabal. Without any real time to say no, he is given a simple, but life altering assignment to deliver a few fake ID’s to a family he does’t even know, spurring his involvement in the French Resistance.

What’s interesting and refreshing about this film is the focus on Algerian people, both Jewish and Muslim, who assist in the fight against the occupation. This seems to be a subject and people, specifically Muslim, not generally explored in WWII resistance movies. We see how Jewish, non Jewish, and even Muslims work together to fight fascism and protect themselves from the horror of the reality they live in.

Despite always having to look over their shoulder and questioning every action they take, the characters in the film still try to live their lives as best as they can given their unfortunate circumstances. They sing, dance, laugh, throw parties, enjoy each other’s company, and love. At times depressing and other times uplifting, we see how one resistance cell works to save the people they are close to as well as people who they may have never seen before.

Free Men is another film in a long list of resistance movies, among them being the great Army of Shadows by Jean-Pierre Melville. Like Melville shows us in his 1969 film, Free Men does as well with a different group of people. That being, the French Resistance wasn’t exploding with extreme action and constant battles with the Nazis or French collaborators. A lot of it was done with simple, but still important, missions: delivering fake ID’s, setting up radios, dealing with informants, smuggling people in and out of buildings.  What is so inspiring about these films, beautifully illustrated by both, and many others, is although faced with what may seem as insurmountable odds, loneliness, hopelessness, loved ones dying and being taken away, with little resources to complete what is necessary, they continue in spite of it all. Why? Because they must.