The World of Religions No. 44, November-December 2010 —
The tremendous success of Xavier Beauvois's film Of Gods and Men delights me deeply. This enthusiasm is not without surprises, and I would like to explain here why this film touched me and why I think it touched so many viewers. Its first strong point lies in its sobriety and slowness. No grand speeches, little music, long "sequence shots" where the camera focuses on faces and attitudes, rather than a series of quick alternating shots like trailers.
In a hectic, noisy world where everything is moving too fast , this film allows us to immerse ourselves for two hours in a different temporality that leads to interiority. Some do not succeed and get a little bored, but most of the spectators experience a very rich inner journey. Because the monks of Tibhirine, played by admirable actors, draw us into their faith and their doubts. And this is the second great quality of the film: far from any Manichaeism, it shows us the hesitations of the monks, their strengths and their weaknesses.
Filming as close to reality as possible, and perfectly supported by the monk Henri Quinson, Xavier Beauvois paints the portrait of men who are the opposite of Hollywood superheroes, at once tormented and serene, anxious and confident, and who constantly question the usefulness of remaining in a place where they risk being assassinated at any moment. These monks, who nevertheless live a life at the antipodes of ours, then become close to us. We are touched, believers or non-believers, by their clear faith and by their fears, we understand their doubts, we feel their attachment to this place and to the population.
This loyalty to these villagers with whom they live, and which will also be the main reason for their refusal to leave, and therefore for their tragic end, undoubtedly constitutes the third strength of this film. Because these Catholic religious have chosen to live in a Muslim country that they love deeply, and they maintain with the population a relationship of trust and friendship which shows that the clash of civilizations is in no way inevitable. When we know each other, when we live together, fears and prejudices fall away and each person can live their faith while respecting that of the other.
This is what the prior of the monastery, Father Christian de Chergé, expresses in a moving way in his spiritual testament read in voiceover by Lambert Wilson at the end of the film, when the monks are kidnapped and leave for their tragic destiny: "If one day – and it could be today – I were to fall victim to the terrorism that now seems to want to engulf all foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church, my family to remember that my life was given to God and to this country […]. I have lived long enough to know that I am an accomplice in the evil that seems, alas, to prevail in the world, and even in that which would strike me blindly […]. I would like, when the time comes, to have that moment of lucidity which would allow me to seek the forgiveness of God and that of my brothers in humanity, at the same time as forgiving wholeheartedly anyone who has harmed me […]."
The story of these monks, as much as a testimony of faith, is a true lesson in humanity.