Maintenant, et à l'heure de notre mort

Des hommes et des dieux (Of gods and men)

Crit

Is there anything harder in narrative than portraying the angelically good as human? This remarkable film, based on the real-life abduction and beheading of seven Trappist monks in Algeria in 1996, does the job brilliantly. That the monks are doomed is clear from the start, the only question being whether they'll be killed by the corrupt government or the Islamist revolutionaries, a question that apparently remains unanswered in fact.

In any case, what matters is what the men, each of whom essentially has to reenact Jesus' suffering in Gethsemane, do with their doom. A sad, beautiful, inspiring film, with a climactic sequence involving red wine and music from Swan Lake that is as stunningly joyful as any I've seen lately.

The Last Lions

Crit

Wow--nature seriously red in tooth and claw. Reminded me (in a good way) of the classic Disney nature documentaries (this is from National Geographic) that do a little anthropomorphizing, but not enough to alienate us. It's a simple survival story, a lioness and 3 cubs, with many gripping twists.