Meu Coronel

I attended the World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Incredibly shot, marvelous acting and a story that will make you think strongly not only about the situation then but of the situation in our current day world. Costa-Gavras' script (co-written with Jean-Claude Grumberg) is tight and stimulating.

I really hope to see this movie in theatres soon for every one to enjoy.

Terrific final cameo with Aznavour!

Congratulations guys.

Superb, gripping take on France's Algeria quagmire.

Not writing a review as such, just keen to share some thoughts.

Spoiler Alert: The Iraq comparison hits you in the face early on. And from a western point of view Iraq is THE telling comparison.

America's occupation post Saddam ouster is much more in keeping with the tone of the Algerian experience. Afghanistan, as wars go, is a more just one - fought in response to an international act of mass murder.

The Colonel, although made essentially toxic by his long exposure to war, is waging, with the apparent blessing of the French military hierarchy, a campaign to bust up an insurgency and seems to have succeeded.

He's displaying the whatever it takes mentality to win, isn't he?.

I'm sure it wasn't only the Gestapo who practiced torture in WW11.

I'm NOT saying this is right, but the film, at least for me, begs the question - is it necessarily wrong as part of an overall war-fighting/winning strategy - especially if it will save lives.

The ultra naive young Lt bothered me. Completely unfit for military service, psychologically and physically.

Clearly, I know he shouldn't have been in the army, let alone Algeria - joining up because of a broken heart.

Spoiler Alert/s: But I was repulsed by his cowardice when he finally made it into combat but couldn't even bring himself to use his gun to save the life of a French comrade.

In fact he didn't fire a single shot during the village skirmish, preferring to cower behind a stone wall, as those about him blast away at the insurgents.

And HE is the one who opens the Colonel's mind to his process of bloody realpolitik, but doesn't see it until his musings about summary execution become a gut churning reality.

As an earlier contributor wrote, I agree this film is more interesting for the historical/human conduct questions it raises rather than the obvious Oh-My-God! this is just like the Americans in Iraq thing!..

"The Colonel", much like his job in the film, truly toys with your mind.

When the extreme rightist retired with amnesty Colonel Raoul Duplan (Olivier Gourmet) is deadly shot in his house, Detective Phillipe from the police department investigates the case. Lieutenant Galois (Cécile De France) is assigned by the high command of the army to follow the investigations of the murder and prepare reports with her findings. Without any lead, she receives some pages of the diary of Lieutenant Guy Rossi (Robinson Stévenin) with a message telling that the colonel died in Saint Arnaud. Lieutenant Galois reads the pages and discovers that Rossi was a just-graduated lawyer with a broken heart because his girlfriend Isabelle left him that volunteered to the French army in 1955 and served under the command of the colonel in Algeria. Every day, the curious Galois receives a correspondence with the sequel of the diary disclosing details of the relationship of Rossi with the colonel until she discloses the identity and the motives of the killer.

"Mon Colonel" is an unknown gem that deserves to be discovered by lovers of cinema and history. The fictitious story shows unscrupulous details of the Algerian War of Independence (1954-1962), with torture, guerrilla, terrorism, the cynical campaign of "pacification" of the French Army and other cruelties through the eyes of a rookie, clumsy and naive lieutenant. The screenplay, written by the great Costa-Gravas, is one of the most intelligent that I have recently seen, disclosing the story in the 50's in pieces, leaving the viewer anxious for the sequence, entwined with the investigation of a murder. The stylish direction of Laurent Herbiet could not be better, alternating colors with the black and white of the period of war in an awesome cinematography. Olivier Gourmet is impressive in the role of the tough colonel; Robinson Stévenin is perfect in the role of a man that loses his innocence; Cécile De France extremely beautiful giving a touch of feeling to the story and the cameo of Charles Aznavour closing the plot with golden key. There is also a criticism to the amnesty given to torturers like Colonel Raoul Duplan (and many members of the military dictatorships in South America in the 70's and 80's). Last but not the least, the situation of the poor oppressed people in Algeria in the 50's is not different from the present situations of Iraq and Afghanistan. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "Meu Coronel" ("My Colonel")

This is a well made and relevant film that explores the moral, ethical and legal implications of war against an insurgency. Rossi, a young French soldier who is a lawyer in training enlists into the Army and goes to Algeria where the French were trying to pacify Algeria 40 years ago. Rossi's experiences with his Colonel and the methods used by the Colonel against the insurgency puts Rossi in an impossible situation. The story alternates between the war and present day where a murder investigation is under way and a mysterious diary of Rossi is being mailed anonymously in pieces by someone and read by a sympathetic and riveted female soldier who is investigating the murder that seems to be related to Rossi's diary and the events described within.

Laurent Herbiet's near-perfect film plays out like a post-mortem murder mystery, but perhaps its most engaging moments are spent in the past - filmed in gritty, black and white, evoking newsreel footage from the Algerian War of the late 50s. It is a stunning first film, which manages to both incorporate and shrug off the influence of producers the Dardenne brothers and politically-minded filmmaker Costa-Gavras. This is clearly Herbiet's show, and his confidence with the camera is highly evident here.

As co-writer and producer Costa-Gavras mentioned in his preamble at the 2006 Toronto Int'l Film Festival, this film is less about history than a metaphor for the present. One sees frightening parallels to the recent wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon. Olivier Gourmet gives a riveting performance as the morally flexible titular character, and Robinson Stévenin is convincingly sympathetic as the conflicted apprentice and unwilling accomplice Lt. Rossi.

It's worth seeing, despite a lackluster framing device that betrays the immediacy of scenes set in the past.