R.A.S.

The Algeria war was a taboo subject for about ten years.Then at the beginning of the seventies ,came Claude Berri's "le pistonné" ,Yves Boisset's "RAS " and the best of them "avoir 20 ans dans les Aurès" by René Vautier.

Boisset's movie is a good work which ,although his characters may seem stereotyped (there's a commie,a pacifist,an anarchist,a sadistic warrant officer...),still deeply touches the audience today.Some scenes are very well directed;the riot in the station where the crowd tries to stop the train,the brothel in a tent in the desert..

The most satisfying part is the second one,because of Philippe Leroy's sensational part of commandant Lecoq.This is a clever officer.He tries to treat his men as men ,to leave them the right to argue ,in a nutshell he's a human soldier although he seems as cold as ice.....and the commie (Jacques Weber) quickly realizes that he is the most dangerous of them all...Can that be a clean war? a human soldier?A noble cause?The final pictures are an act of rebellion,and the audience sides with the deserter (Jacques Spiesser)

A beautiful song (Leny Escudero) opens the movie.