Rachid Bouchareb’s Hors-la-loi / Outside the Law hasn’t even had its Cannes Official Competition screening, yet — that will be on May 21 — and it’s already being reviled by right-wing politicians and French war veterans.
Directed and written by Bouchareb, Outside the Law is a drama-thriller about Algeria’s struggle for independence from France following World War II — an issue that remains an ugly, painful thorn in French modern history.
The criticism against his latest film has forced the Parisian-born Bouchareb to speak up at the festival.
"Cinema must be able to broach all subjects," Bouchareb, 50, remarked, adding "committed as I am to freedom of expression, it seems to me normal that some people disagree with my film, but I wish this disagreement were expressed in a peaceful way, in a calm debate of ideas."
Those criticizing Outside the Law haven’t watched the movie. Their complaints are based on how a version of the screenplay portrays France’s role in the war. (The bloody eight-year war — approximately 1 million dead, the vast majority of them Algerians — led to Algeria’s independence in 1962.)
Outside the Law features several performers found in Bouchareb’s Oscar and Cesar-nominated war drama Indigenes / Days of Glory, including Sami Bouajila and Jamel Debbouze. Days of Glory showed how North African World War II veterans, who fought for colonial power France, were discriminated both during and after the war.
Quotes: Agence France Presse
Photo: Cannes Film Festival