Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Of Gods and Men/Des Hommes et des Dieux (2010) - Creeds at odds in powerful and deeply moving true-story drama

10/23/2022

Of Gods and Men/Des Hommes et des Dieux (2010) - Creeds at odds in powerful and deeply moving true-story drama

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Two monks embrace under an overwhelming, bright sky on this effective poster for Xavier Beauvois' Of Gods and Men

The French Catholic monks in a monastery in Algeria are threatened by Islamic fundamentalists, when the civil war that broke out in 1991 comes to their area in 1996, but what does one do in such a situation?

Of Gods and Men is written by co-writer/co-producer Etienne Comar (Haute Cuisine (2012)) and French master filmmaker, co-writer/director Xavier Beauvois (Nord (1991)), whose 6th feature it is. It is based on a real life chapter of the Algerian Civil War, which ended in 2002. The original French title translates to 'of men and of gods' and refers to a line in the Bible's Book of Psalms.

It is an eminent and sober portrayal of a true tragedy from our recent past. The film bares with clarity and anguish the way that Islam demands blood sacrifice again and again.

The film is acted with sensitive empathy and humanism from a set of excellent French actors, whose characters do not stand unified or without doubts as to their worrying predicament, giving the strong film a wealth of nuances. Of Gods and Men is, in short, masterly.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 4 mil. €, approximately 3.89 mil. $

Box office: 43.8 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 11.25 times its cost)

[Of Gods and Men premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 122 minutes. Beauvois stayed 6 days at the Tamié abbey in Savoie as research, consulted a theologian and sent the screenplay to the families of the monks, getting positive response from most. The actors trained chanting for a month and were also sent for a week to the Tamié for preparation. 10 companies and support bodies collaborated in the financing and production of the film. Shooting took place from December 2009 - February 2010 in Morocco. The film opened #26 to a 308k $ first weekend in 33 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #22 and in 120 theaters (different weeks), grossing 3.9 mil. $ (8.9 % of the total gross). The film was a massive hit in France, where it was #1 for 4 consecutive weeks and grossed 27.2 mil. $ (62.1 %). North America was the film's 2nd biggest market and Germany the 3rd biggest with 2.1 mil. $ (4.8 %). The film was nominated for a BAFTA, won 3 prizes at Cannes, including the Grand Prix, 3/11 César awards, was nominated for a David di Donatello award and 2 European Film awards and won a National Board of Review award, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to 2 notches under this one. Beauvois returned with The Price of Fame/La Rançon de la Gloire (2014). Lambert Wilson (The Belly of An Architect (1987)) returned in a music video prior to his theatrical return in À l'Aveugle (2012); Michael Lonsdale (The Suspects/Les Suspects (1974)) in Hitler à Hollywood (2010). Of Gods and Men is certified fresh at 92 % with a 8.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (15-24)

10/23/2022

Of Gods and Men/Des Hommes et des Dieux (2010) - Creeds at odds in powerful and deeply moving true-story drama

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