Of Gods and Men

Based on a true story – the kidnapping and murder of seven French monks in Algeria in 1996 – Xavier Beauvois’s OF GODS AND MEN is a revelation. At once a timely and intelligent rumination on some key contemporary questions – fundamentalist terrorism and the relationship between Christianity and Islam – it is also a masterly piece of cinema, a beautifully acted, scripted and photographed work.

A monastery high in the mountains of the Maghreb, some time in the 1990s. Eight French Christian monks live in harmony with their Muslim brothers. But violence and terror are slowly taking hold of the region. Despite the ever-growing danger that surrounds them, the monks’ resolve to stay – whatever the cost – grows stronger day by day.

“Belief systems come in many forms and Beauvois teases this out with sensitivity. This film is not a simple story of theological conflict between Christian and Islamic ideas; it is more interested in the division between fundamentalists and humanists, and what this means. Beautifully paced and acted, Beauvois’ film has a spiritual majesty to it that is a joy to behold.”

Piers Handling, Toronto FF

OF GODS AND MEN is a French Oscar nominee for the best foreign film.