Outside the Law movie review & film summary (2010)

Bouchareb takes these elements and essentially constructs a superior action picture. I'm sure it plays differently here than in France, where emotions on the subject are old and run deep. Imagine the feelings of Americans about a film where the Confederacy is viewed as heroic and the Union as murderous invaders. It all depends on which side you think is the right one. "Outside the Law" votes with the FLN.

The film is very well made. The actors create individual characters, within the limitations of what is essentially a formula. The flaw in the film is that, as Truffaut said, action in movies argues for itself. If we are assigned three protagonists and they're in gunfights with people trying to kill them, we identify with the protagonists. If the cops are the heroes, then we identify with them. So simple action is idea-neutral. If the point is to inspire sympathy for the Algerians, it may be effective, but lacks meaning.

There's a scene early in the film, during a boxing match Said stages for gambling purposes, when the cops raid what they perceive as a dangerous gathering of Algerians and open fire, causing a massacre. I understand this is a fictional version of a real event, about which there is much disagreement.  We foreign viewers, not clued in, can only assume we know Said and so the authorities are wrong.

Compare that with "The Battle of Algiers," which is much more thoughtful about the methods of the resistance. Its sentiments are on the side of the FLN, but its focus is on the day to day reality of the struggle. There is a point in that film where the FLN seems crushed. It is not. The argument is that an indigenous movement cannot be crushed by force, because its inexorable causes remain. In "Outside the Law," the matter seems more simply about strategy and victory.

"Outside the Law" is at the very least a superior action film, in which the action sequences are plausible and grounded in reality. It is also a parable in support of anti-colonialism. What it isn't, at the end of the day, is a film about the larger picture. It's about these characters and their stories. Well, most films are. It's just helpful to be clear that you're not finding out much about the larger issue.

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