Yesterday I went to see "Of Gods and Men" - I hadn't heard much about it beforehand, I just knew that it was about a Community of monks who got themselves massacred.
Actually, it is much, much more than that. It is the story of a Community of Trappist monks - I gathered that they followed the Benedictine Rule - who worked with villagers in Algeria. They were eventually martyred by Muslim fundamentalists. It was a very intense film, despite being "slow" in the cinematic sense. There was so much more that I wanted to know.
I found it very moving: two scenes especially "grabbed" me. The first was the monk who, having arrived at the monastery only the night before (with messages and other stuff for the Community) protested "I've only just got here!" when the terrorists captured them. The second was Brother Amédée, who, having hidden under his bed, was left behind in the monastery after the attack...
It's on at the Picture House in Greenwich at the moment. It isn't typical "Christmas" fare, nevertheless, I would highly recommend going to see it.
The book that I have read about the monks (and whose French edition is in the credits at the end of the film), is by John Kiser: "The Monks of Tibhirine. Faith, Love and Terror in Algeria".
ReplyDeleteMy own posts on the film - which contain a number of links to other blog posts about it - can be found here:
http://rccommentary2.blogspot.com/search?q=Of+Gods+and+Men
Mac,
ReplyDeleteThank you for recommending this. After seeing your post I went to see it on a whim, and was very impressed. I was very lucky too, as it was almost the last day of showing here in Edinburgh.
Thanks again,
God bless!