Good movie, but best of all time? Hardly . . .

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It was movie that touched a string and left my mind empty of thoughts. Those views of the Algerien desert were magnificent. They pointed out something that we seem to forget again again: we are so small in the background of nature. I've often read in books about how the immensity of the desert humbles human beings but I never understood what it meant. Living in a place like that seems to have made the school teacher realize how precious is life and how small is the importance of human squabbles. Quiet... That seems to be the predominant sound of the movie. Or more likely peace, a peace that Daru attempts to keep by turning a blind eye to the chaos that seems to start brewing around him. However, eventually he can not bring himself to sacrifice his values in order to keep his peaceful life. The movie also shows the incipient stages of what we today call terrorism. Daru's perspective is very interesting. As a child who is born by Spanish parents in an Arabic country and who is also a French citizen he belongs to three nations and to none in the same time. Thus he has insight on all three cultures from a rather impartial perspective. He is not touched by excessive nationalism and can see analyze their cultures from a wider point of view. We can see in this movie what could be called the calm before the storm. The inhabitants of the Arabic world are starting what they call a "revolution". From their point of view their actions represent their path to freedom, liberation from the oppression of foreign tyranny. We are used to see the terrorists as villains but perhaps they are victims just as match as we are.

Brilliant performances by Mortensen and Betak, who play two men and show their story in a war torn 1950s Algiere. The film has a progressive build of relationship between the two characters which is fantastic. They evolve deeply and create definite emotion throughout film; a fantastic effort with character development. Definititely one of Mortensen's best performances. If a film is better than just good I will usually give it a 7.5-8. This french slow paced drama scrapes itself a 9. It exceeded my expectations. It accomplished conveying the story very well. An original score from Nick Cave as well, which perhaps has a slight hint of a downfall. So far one of the two best European films of the year.

Daru (Viggo Mortensen)is a second-generation Spanish-Algerian, teaching Arab children in a remote school during Algeria's struggle for independence. He is viewed as a Frenchman by the Arabs, and as an Arab by the French. He gets saddled with the task of taking Mohamed (Reda Kateb), a common, that is non-political, criminal to the authorities in Tinguit. The pair encounter Algerian freedom fighters, French soldiers, Arab tribesmen, stunning landscapes and more along the way. At each turn, Daru's values, culture, position and assumptions are thrown into question, and his bond with Mohamed deepens. Yet at all points this remains a movie with a compelling storyline and beautiful cinematography. There is never a hint of heavy-handed social commentary or political soap-boxing. As a thriller/adventure, or character drama, it would be excellent. But through Daru and Mohamed's developing relationship, the social and political fabric of Algeria is explored at the same time, with exquisite but down-to-earth sensitivity, from the points of view of two ordinary, honest, and in their different ways fundamentally good men.

This is a story about a fraternity that goes beyond cleavages and prejudices. A quiet and brave rebellion against nonsense of violence. Charlie, Niger... That's so cruelly acute to current events. No doubt this story, that takes place in Algeria in 1954, could have been transposed in 2015 or later.The film is beautiful, it takes its time without being never boring. Action and contemplation are wonderfully balanced.The relationship between two men, both excluded from their communities, "étrangers" (foreigners) in more than a way, is moving. Each of us is an Arab or a paria for someone else.Reda Kateb, Viggo Mortensen and the Atlas are glowing, simply fascinating.