For a while I had been thinking that what the world needs is more movies about Muslims during World War II. What were Muslims doing during World War II? Because of this I chanced upon "Free Men." "Les hommes libres" was written and directed by Ismaël Ferroukhi, with Alain-Michel Blanc assisting on the screenplay. The 2011 movie won Best Director from the Arab World at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival for "excellent telling of an unknown and important story," according to IMDb.
In the movie, Ferroukhi and Blanc fashion a story around two historical figures: a Muslim Si Kaddour Benghabrit (Michael Lonsdale) and Jewish Arab Salim Halali (Mahmoud Shalaby). Ben Ghabrit was the rector of the Great Mosque in Paris during World War II. We see both Ben Ghabrit and Halali through the eyes of an out-of-work Algerian Younes Ben Daoud (Tahar Rahim) who is making a living by selling things on the black market. When he is arrested by the authorities, he agrees under pressure to spy on the Great Mosque because the rector, Benghabrit, is suspected of helping Jews and the resistance movement.
At the mosque, Younes meets Halali. Younes is moved by Halali's singing and they become good friends. During this time, Halali is picked up by the Germans who ask him for proof that he is Muslim. They take him to a graveyard to find his father's grave. The rector has had Halali's father's name inscribed on the gravestone of an unknown Muslim man.
Younes does eventually see European Jews under the protection of Benghabrit and he falls in with Algerians who are not only part of the French Resistance, but preparing to end the French rule over Algeria. As Younes, Rahim is at first the kind of guy you avoid, self-centered and lacking a moral center, but Rahim shows his transition through a glance and small nuances.
Lonsdale, who was born in Paris and actually was in Morocco during World War II, brings a pensive gravity to his role as the rector. He won a Best Supporting Actor César for his role in "Of Gods and Men" ("Des hommes et des dieux"), a 2010 French movie about Trappist monks taken hostage and murdered during the 1996 Algerian Civil War. Both "Free Men" and "Of Gods and Men" were official selections for the Cannes Film Festival during their respective years.
"Free Men" is a low-key production that focuses on the feelings of alienation and patriotism. As an Algerian, Younes is alienated from both the French and the Germans. They are both foreign forces and he is emotionally removed from both. Through faith and friendship, Younes finds meaning in his life and his Muslim faith renewed; he finds some respect for France while seeing hope in the possible independence for Algeria.
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